Do you remember me?
by elvirakitties
Summary: What happens when Severus and Harry are tired of Dumbledore's control? They make him remember why controlling people is a bad idea. consensual and non-consensual Spanking, mild d/s, mild torture scene (spanking). Dumbledore/Granger/Ron/Ginny/Molly bashing


Truths

Harry was sitting in the Headmaster's office listening to the man drone on when he was finally done Harry looked up. "Let me get this straight, I have to bond with Snape."

"Professor Snape, and yes, we need his help and you are the price he wants. He will be in charge of the relationship as he will be considered your Master." Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling, and his hands were petting his beard.

"So you are selling me to him so that he will keep spying on Voldemort?" Harry couldn't believe that this was the man of light? This was the man who wanted to lead them away from the dark. What drug was the man taking?

"We aren't selling you. We need his help, and you will be able to access his magic and use that to help you kill Tom."

"Yet, the title of Master is in there. If I say no?" How delusional could a person be? Master implied ownership.

"You really don't have much of a choice. It's already been written up."

"Watch me, I do have a choice." He was done, no more Mr. Nice Harry Potter.

"Harry, you will lose your magic, you would doom our world to Tom?" Dumbledore's voice was filled with that loving concern aimed at making him feel guilty for immediately agreeing with what he wanted.

Harry shook his head and got up and started to leave, at the door, he turned to the Headmaster. "Remember this meeting." He walked out, allowing the door to close slowly. He headed to Gryffindor Tower and as he entered the common room, he saw Hermione and Ron sitting on the couch.

"What did Dumbledore want?" Weasley closed the Quidditch magazine he was reading.

"Headmaster Dumbledore, Ron." Granger reprimanded from her spot on the couch, where she was rereading Hogwarts: A History.

"It seems he sold me to Snape." He felt like he should be in shock, but he wasn't. He actually was calmer about it than he thought possible. There wasn't any anger.

"Professor Snape. The Headmaster didn't sell you, it's a perfectly good solution." Hermione said to him in her usual superior voice. She was always making him feel stupid and he was sick of it.

Harry inhaled deeply and headed up to his dorm. He gathered everything he owned, he pulled his broom out of his trunk, dumped his meager possessions into his trunk, shrunk it. He looked around, sadly, he headed to the window closest to his bed, opened it and flew out.

When They Meet Again

Summary:

When Severus is caught and faces Harry and Voldemort

Warning some torture and violence. Remember Harry and Severus don't know the truth.

Severus was walking in the Forbidden Forest, it was the night of the full moon and he needed to gather some ingredients. He had spent weeks looking for Harry Potter. He was tired but he needed to get these ingredients for his potions.

He wasn't sure why Harry Potter had run from a bonding with him. He had been told he needed to find Harry before his magic disappeared. Dumbledore had everyone in the Order looking for Harry. They had tried various tracking spell, but they all lead to false leads. He wasn't sure how Harry had managed to spread his hairs over so many places but the boy had done it. His relatives were useless. When he realized where Harry had been living, he was furious. He knew Harry had been abused and Dumbledore had lied about it.

He heard something break a branch, as he went to stand up everything went dark. He sat up gasping for air as freezing water landed on him. "He is now awake, how delightful." He heard from next to him. He turned his head and saw Harry Potter standing next to the Dark Lord. The boy looked healthy and was dressed in the finest emerald green robe. He actually looked better than he had ever seen him look before. Harry was now over eighteen and he looked less like James Potter. His hair was longer, tied back, his glasses were gone. He wondered if the Dark Lord fixed Harry's eyesight.

"How nice of you to join us, we have been looking forward to seeing you again." The Dark Lord wasn't screaming or cursing him. "Harry has some interesting plans for you." Severus tried to hide his shock. The Dark Lord looked normal. He looked like a man instead of a human-snake hybrid. He looked like his younger self. He had his dark brown hair also tied back. His eyes were a clear brown now, not that fire engine red. He was tall and lean.

"Oh, don't get him excited." Harry smirked as he walked around him and moved back to stand by the Dark Lord.

Severus knew he was in trouble. Severus quickly went to his knees, he wasn't sure what exactly was going on but Harry Potter with the Dark Lord wasn't a good. Harry was to kill the Dark Lord, not join him. "My Lord, I was unaware you wanted me." He had his hair grabbed by Harry and his head was forced up. He closed his eyes. He didn't need them to know what was happening with Dumbledore.

"Severus, my little traitor." The Dark Lord stated. "I believe you have some questions to answer and I do hope they are what we want to hear. Harry has some very creative punishments for you before we kill you." Severus was afraid for the first time. This was a sane Voldemort and a powerful Harry Potter working together, something Dumbledore hadn't planned on.

"That doesn't give him any incentive to answer our questions." Harry said. "I could play a bit before we ask." Severus saw Harry pull out a knife out from behind his black dragon-hide pants as his head was released as Harry ran his finger down the blade. "I am wondering if I can create a nice design on him."

"I did like your work on that wolf." The Dark Lord said. "Shall we show our little traitor?"

"I believe we should, as I don't think he would believe I would do it." Harry said. "I am sure Nagini would enjoy playing with this traitor. She has wanted to have someone to chase. I am sure Sassa would love to learn how to chase humans."

"My Lord, I am unsure of why you believe I am a traitor. I have done nothing to earn that title." Severus said. "I-" Severus was suddenly gagged. He put his hands up to try and remove the gag but he couldn't remove it. He turned his panicked eyes toward Harry and the Dark Lord. He didn't even hear who cast the spell.

"He has always talked too much." Harry said. "Don't worry it will be removed when I want to hear your screams and of course, your answers to our questions." Severus wasn't sure what to do now, he was gagged. He couldn't talk his way out of this now.

"Shall we teach him some lessons?" The Dark Lord asked. "Do stand up Severus. You will find your potions and wand are missing, so is that emergency port-key you had." Severus almost panicked, but he kept his wits. He still had one more thing hidden.

"Even his backup port-key is missing. You did forget to mention that." Harry remarked.

Severus looked at Harry, quickly to the Dark Lord, they had found his backup. He only now had his clothes on.

"Stand up Severus." The Dark Lord told him.

Severus stood up and saw Nagini, with another snake, was watching him closely. That must be Sassa. The snake was almost the size of Nagini, except she was a black. He knew he couldn't hide from the snakes. He tried to get them to remove the gag but they didn't as they lead him out of the small room he woke up in. He followed them down to the dungeons. He didn't want to go here, but the snakes made sure he followed.

They stopped in front of a cell. The Dark Lord opened it and inside was someone he recognized. It was Remus Lupin who was kneeling in front of Fenrir Greyback, his head pressed against Fenrir's boots. He saw some wounds on Remus' back. "My Lords, I wasn't expecting you here or I would have had him cleaned up."

"That is fine Fenrir. We were just showing Severus some of Harry's creative designs." The Dark Lord stated.

"Turn around and show your back to your Lords." Fenrir kicked Remus in his side.

Severus flinched as Lupin obeyed. He saw the design on Lupin's back. It was deep and he knew it would scar, Lupin would be wearing the Potter Crest on his back for the rest of his life. He could see the outline of a knight's helm, some ivy was surrounding the helm and flowing around the helm.

"I think I can do it better on Severus." Harry said. "You know Severus you should never have tried to buy me in order to keep spying for Dumbledore."

Severus went to his knees. He moved closer to Harry and laid his head down on his boots. He hated doing this but he needed to get Harry and the Dark Lord to listen to him. What he saw in Granger and Weasley's thoughts now made sense.

"It seems he knows his place." Fenrir commented.

The Dark Lord laughed. "He was always good at pretending. He is a true Slytherin, anything to survive."

"He could always twist things to his advantage." Harry said.

Severus wanted to scream but couldn't, what they had said was true. He was a true Slytherin; he would do anything to survive. He could twist words around to his advantage and he would twist them but he was going to speak the truth. "Tom, may I keep him if I break him?"

"Let's see if we can get some information out of first, we can determine what is to be done with him." The Dark Lord answered.

Severus glanced up but laid his head back down on Harry's boots. He needed them to listen to him without him being hurt.

"He seems sincere." Fenrir told them. Severus saw Remus lift his head. "He knows the truth that he belongs to my grandcub." Fenrir hit Remus across the face. "Head down, you know better." Remus lowered his head. Severus didn't want to be turned over to Fenrir. Werewolves still scared him.

Severus froze for a brief second as he thought about what Fenrir stated. He didn't want to belong to anyone but he knew his best chance was with Harry. He knew the boy wasn't like his father but more like his mother. If the most the boy did was carve up his back, he would rather that than anything the Dark Lord could think of.

"I have some spells that we can test on him." The Dark Lord stated. "I believe after that we shall get some information out of him, even if we finally have to use Veritaserum on him."

"I believe we have chatted enough." Harry said. "I think Severus needs to feel what we mean."

Severus started to try and speak around the gag. He didn't want to feel anything like what Harry had done to Lupin. He felt a hand in his hair than he was being pulled up by his hair.

"Fenrir take him with you when you leave, but remember to keep him collared. We don't want him running back to the old coot." The Dark Lord cast a quick Stinging Hex at Lupin. "Really never should have stolen from Harry."

"I am sorry." Lupin cried out. "Harry, I am so sorry."

Severus saw Harry sneer at Lupin. "I don't want to hear about it, you turned on my parents and me. You allowed that old coot to control you." Severus reached up to try and remove the gag. He wanted to curse Lupin. Lupin was with Dumbledore on hurting Harry. He was led out of the cell by his hair.

He was led into one of the bigger cells in the Castle. He knew it was Slytherin Castle when he was walking down here. He saw the tapestries in the halls as he walked. He was forced to the center of the room. Using a quick spell Harry had him chained by his wrists in the middle of the room. He looked down and saw runes. He recognized the group of runes they would allow him to feel pain and not block it out by focusing on something else. "I see he knows what he is standing on." Harry grinned.

"He should, he put them down for me. I tested them shortly afterward." The Dark Lord said.

Severus remembered when he had put the runes down. He was a fairly new recruit and wanted to impress the Dark Lord. He remembered the one the Dark Lord had tested the runes on. It was someone who had betrayed the Dark Lord to Dumbledore. The man was a mess and the Dark Lord left him hanging until he slowly died from blood loss.

"What do you have in mind, Harry?" The Dark Lord leaned in and gave the boy a quick kiss. Severus tried not to look surprised but he knew he failed. The Dark Lord kissed Harry, and Harry didn't seem to care.

"Behave or I will have to punish you later." Harry told the Dark Lord, as he moved away from him. Severus watched as Harry moved behind the Dark Lord and he heard the smack of Harry's hand against the Dark Lord's arse and was amazed has the Dark Lord moaned in pleasure. "I see you are still feeling your earlier spanking."

"Yes, I didn't want to heal. How do you want to start this?" The Dark Lord asked.

Severus was surprised, Harry had spanked the Dark Lord and threatened to spank him again. As he realized that, he also realized he wasn't going to be getting out of this alive unless he really worked on them.

"I say let's try the old fashioned muggle way." Harry responded.

Severus watched Harry opened up the wardrobe that was in the room and remove something he couldn't see, but what he could see in the wardrobe didn't make him feel any better.

"Shall I remove the gag?" The Dark Lord asked.

"In a few minutes, I do want to hear him scream. He was always good at speaking. Now let's see how well he does at screaming." Harry walked behind Severus. "However, I want to warm him up a little bit."

*****Torture scene (nothing to graphic—mostly spanking)***********

Severus looked at the Dark Lord and he felt his back was on fire as a cat of nail tails landed on his back. He arched away in pain and had to struggle to get back on his feet. "He does move well."

"He always has, he has always had a great body, keeps himself in shape."

Severus heard the swish of the whip before it landed on his back. He grunted at the impact. He didn't realize how strong Harry was. He let a whimper escape as the whip landed again, knocking him off of his feet. He struggled to get back on his feet, as soon as he was; he was knocked off again by the whip landing on his back. He flinched as he felt Harry touched his back. He felt Harry's hand trace the marks on his back. He tried to hold back on the moans. "You know, I might just let him live if he can keep up such pretty moans."

"I am enjoying them." The Dark Lord moved to stand in front of him. "Shall we undress him?"

"Yes, his robe and shirt are a mess." Harry stated. Severus jumped a bit when Harry pinched his arse. "He is feisty isn't he?"

"Yes, he always was. One of the reasons why I liked him, he is also very smart, very talented." Severus didn't know that the man appreciated his talents besides being a potion master. He was learning a lot, now if he could just get to speak to them. His back was on fire and he knew they weren't done.

"Pass me the paddle. I want to see what he does with a spanking. I can hear his moans now." Harry said as the Dark Lord spelled off Severus clothes.

Severus started to shake his head. He needed to speak to them. He was desperate for them to listen to him. He could handle a spanking but he didn't want one if he could avoid one.

"It looks like he doesn't like the idea of being paddled." The Dark Lord commented.

"It really doesn't matter." Harry said and Severus screamed as the paddle landed on his arse. He hung by his wrist for a few seconds. "Get back on your feet or I will toss you over a spanking bench."

Severus got back on his feet. He wasn't going to let them know he couldn't handle a spanking. If the Dark Lord could take a spanking by Harry so could he. He screamed into his gag as the paddle landed again on his arse. He wasn't sure if he could get back on his feet.

"Think he needs the bench." The Dark Lord stated.

Severus would have agreed with him if he could have. He was hanging from his wrists, trying to get his breathing under control. He knew he had to get back on his feet. He struggled for a few minutes but he finally got back on his feet. He didn't even see how the bench appeared in front of him. He didn't hear a spell and or see a wand.

"Tom, get him into position."

"Yes, Harry." The Dark Lord replied.

Severus knew he should try to escape but he also knew if he tried it, if he did get away from Harry and the Dark Lord, he had two snakes he had also escape from. He allowed the Dark Lord to place him over the bench. He felt a thick leather strap around his waist. He had his hands secured to a set of leather cuffs the Dark Lord picked up from the floor. There was a chain leading to the cuffs. He tried to get them to talk again but again he was ignored. He felt his ankles were secured in a similar manner. "Harry do you want him complete stripped?"

"Yes." Severus felt the cool air hit his reddened backside. "He is so pale. The color looks so lovely on him." He felt Harry run his hand over his arse. "I wonder, if I keep him, how he will like my mark on his left cheek."

"I am sure he would be honored." The Dark Lord remarked. "Do you want ice?"

"Not yet, maybe later when he needs to be kept awake." Severus felt Harry's hand on his left arse cheek. "Yes, I think he will look lovely marked." Severus squirmed a bit as much as he could with Harry caressing his sore backside.

"Harry?" The Dark Lord asked.

"Tom, get me the lotion."

Severus wasn't sure what was going on, he watched the Dark Lord walk to the wardrobe and remove a tub of the cream. He wasn't sure he was going to like this. He felt the lotion on his backside and wondered what it was meant to do. He soon found out as the heat of the lotion seeped into his skin. Several minutes passed as the burning feeling began to make him squirm. He couldn't move very much as he was bound but he knew Harry and the Dark Lord were enjoying it based on their comments from "he moves well" to "we need to do this again to him."

He would have yelled as the paddle landed on his arse. He didn't get much of a break as another hit landed. "I do believe he is paying attention." Harry commented.

"I can see that. Maybe we should see how he reacts to a nice strap or cane?"

Severus lifted his head at those words. He started to shake his head. He would have begged them to not use either of them.

"I don't think he wants that." Harry walked to stand in front of him. Severus started shaking his head. He started to try to speak hoping they would get the idea. "He seems very eager to speak to us now." He watched Harry move back to the wardrobe, he stopped, and Severus wondered what was happen now. Harry slowly walked back to the Dark Lord, his face not giving away anything. "Tom, if he is so eager to speak see if he will allow you to look at his memories."

Severus started to shake his head yes. He was willing. He wanted them to look at them. "He certainly seems eager."

Harry walked up to Severus. "I am going ask you a simple question, if you agree; I will remove the gag and allow you to speak. Now, depending on if we believe you that will determine if you wear a collar for the rest of your life as my property or I kill you. I should warn you, I am aiming for killing you, Tom doesn't have a say in it."

Severus nodded his agreement. He was willing to do anything to get them to listen to him. He knew that Harry would follow up on his words. He had done so since he had woken up. "Interesting, I wondered if he would if will agree." Harry smirked over his shoulder to Tom. Harry touched the gag and it fell from Severus' mouth. "I expect a truthful answer, why did you want to buy me?"

"I didn't. He told me you were losing your magic and I needed to bind with you, to help you be able to defeat the Dark Lord. He made me make a Vow when you were a baby to protect you." Severus rushed the words out. "You can look in my memories."

Harry looked to Tom. "Do it." Harry moved away to allow the Dark Lord access to Severus. Harry still needed to master that art.-END TORTURE

************************Memories*************************

"Albus, you wanted to see me?" Severus sat down in the chair opposite Dumbledore's desk.

"Lemon drop?"

"No."

"I called you up here for an important reason. When I was speaking to Hermione and Ron they mentioned that Harry wasn't able to perform some spells, spells that he has performed numerous times." Dumbledore stated. "I am worried about him."

"What do you expect me to do about it?" Severus asked. "I am sure the little brat is just slacking off."

"I researched some solutions and the best one I can find is a bonding between you and Harry. He would be able to access your magic and aid him in defeating Tom."

"No. I won't be bonding to him. He is just barely over eighteen. I am not living my remaining years bound to him." Severus was clearly getting annoyed. His face was getting stiffer as Dumbledore had spoken.

"It's the best solution. I found others but it would require a slavery aspect of a bond. I know you wouldn't want that type of bonding." Dumbledore took a sip of tea from the cup that was by his left elbow.

"I won't do anything in regards to any bonding."

"Severus, he will lose his magic. If he loses his magic, it will allow Tom to win. Are you willing to allow that? You know how important Harry is to our defeating Tom."

Severus got up out of his chair. "I can't believe you, you expect me to bond with that little snot."

"Severus, I wouldn't ask unless it was necessary." Dumbledore's voice filled with his I'm going to make you feel guilty tone.

"I won't."

"Severus I have already drawn up the contracts. Sirius already signed it. Remus witnessed it." Dumbledore stated. "I just need your signature. I will tell you right now, you won't be doing this for me, you will be doing it for Lily, your Vow to protect Harry and to help us defeat Tom."

Severus paced for a few seconds and turned to Dumbledore. "Black signed off on this? He knows you are bonding Harry to me?"

"Yes, he is aware." Dumbledore was pulling out the contract. "Read it. You will find it's a basic contract."

Severus took the contract and read it. "It says I will be his Master. Why?"

"It will allow you to give him some of your magic if you noticed it doesn't list him as a slave."

"I am still listed as his Master. I will be the dominant in this relationship."

"Yes. It is needed for you to give him your magic when it's time. You can work out the relationships details between yourselves."

"Fine, but I don't like this." Severus signed the contract.

*****************Memory End*******************************

The Dark Lord looked at Harry. "That was interesting. It is very different than what happened when he told you."

Harry looked down at Severus. "Why aren't I surprised?"

"He told Severus you were losing your magic. Black signed off on the contract, with Lupin witnessing it. He told Severus that he would be the dominant but you weren't to be a slave and that it would allow him to share his magic with you." The Dark Lord stated. "I am worried about this Vow he took."

"What Vow, Severus?"

Severus was panting as his arse was increasing in heat. "I took a Vow to protect you after your mother was killed. The Dark Lord broke his promise, he killed her."

"He asked her three times to step aside." Harry told Severus. "The Dementors allowed me to hear what happened that night. He really did ask her to move aside three times."

Severus lifted his head and looked at the Dark Lord. "You did?" Some confusion was in his voice. He didn't even try to hide his surprise at those words. He thought the Dark Lord ignored his reward.

"Yes, I think that is why Harry survived, because of that." The Dark Lord said. "Harry, what do you want to do?"

"It's going to be up to him now. I know I said I would decide based on his answers and I have. I am going to give him a choice because he has protected me in the past. The choice is simple, you can become mine or you can return to Dumbledore and face us on the battlefield. I should warn you, if I do find you on the battlefield, I will place a collar on you and you will be bound in slavery to me. I like how you squirm."

"Will you collar and mark me if I select you?" Severus had no issue with belonging to Harry. He just didn't want to be a slave.

"I will be marking you. I have marked Tom, so you will be marked. No one will treat you like a slave, as you won't be one. I won't make you wear a collar, but I might use toys on you. You will be mine fully Severus. I won't allow you any leeway, you will be my submissive. Tom will be your equal. The three of us will take out Dumbledore."

"You will allow me to help take out Dumbledore?" Severus was trying to keep his head up to see Harry.

"Yes. The three of us have a lot to make him pay for. Black, Lupin, Granger, Ron, Ginny and Molly Weasley have a lot to answer for also. I want them all to pay. You know some of his softer spots." Harry moved behind Severus.

Severus tried to follow Harry's movement as he walked behind him. "Harry?" Severus jumped a bit as something cold was applied to his arse.

The Dark Lord touched Severus' hair. "It won't hurt as much as my mark did. I will remove my mark later."

"My Lord?"

"Tom." The Dark Lord said. "Harry won't like it if you keep calling me that."

"I won't." Harry added. Severus felt his world was getting stranger. The Dark Lord didn't mind being called Tom by him? Was he going to lose his Death Eater mark?

Severus screamed as he felt himself being marked. "Release him, Tom, put him to bed. I will be up in a few minutes. I am going to leave a fake message about Severus' death in the Forbidden Forest."

"Golem?" The Dark Lord asked.

"I was thinking of it. Fenrir left a few marked up for us to use." Harry stated. Severus had to admire that Harry had that already worked out.

"Take a hair, give the golem a Poly-Juice Potion, it will make it harder for them to realize it's one." Severus explained though he wondered exactly how much of a mask Harry wore at Hogwarts.

"I already have one." Harry grinned at a standing Severus, who was leaning against the Dark Lord. "I will be back in about thirty minutes."

"I will clean him up, do you want me to heal him?"

"No." Harry replied. Severus saw the look exchanged between the Dark Lord and Harry. "Severus knows why, don't you?"

Severus realized the Dark Lord didn't understand and that was why they exchanged the look. Severus did know the reason why he wasn't going to be healed. "It's to help me remember that I am not your Professor, you aren't my student, and you are now in charge."

Harry turned and left the room. The Dark Lord looked down at Severus. "Well, it's going to get interesting now."

"When did he come to you?" Severus asked as the Dark Lord started to guide him out of the room.

"His first year. My return was staged. He wasn't sure who was involved with Dumbledore or what exactly was going on."

"Will you tell me everything?" Severus asked.

"Of course, Harry wanted you to join us, and then this contract happened."

Severus stopped in surprise. "He did?" He began to move again.

"Yes, Severus, he really wanted to enjoy your class. He never understood why you attacked him."

"Dumbledore lied to me. I didn't know he was abused until a few weeks ago. He told everyone he was raised in our traditions, he was taught magical theory and he was raised as a prince." Severus answered. "You also know what his father and friends did to me."

The Dark Lord sighed. "So he set it up for you to hate each other."

"Yes. That contract? Why didn't it work? We still have our magic." Severus asked as they finally entered a bedroom.

"It was an illegal one. Harry was declared an adult after the tournament. Black couldn't have signed off on it. When you or Harry challenge it magic will put those punished who signed the contract." The Dark Lord guided him to a bathroom. "Let me start a bath for you." He set Severus down on the toilet seat.

"Does he plan on challenging it?" Severus didn't hide the pain he felt as he sat down. He watched the Dark Lord start to gather towels, putting them on a heating stone as the tub filled with hot water. He watched the man, who was so different from the one he remembered.

"Yes, but only after everything is gone from them all. Black and Dumbledore will be forced to marry. Fenrir will keep Lupin under control." The Dark Lord turned started adding some spells to the bath tub. Spells that would keep the water hot.

"Wormtail?" Severus hadn't seen the little rat. He knew the rat had returned to the Dark Lord, he saw him a few times when he had been summoned.

"Dead, Nagini ate him." The Dark Lord responded. "I can't put in anything for pain, but do you want something to help you relax?"

Severus wouldn't miss the rat. "Please. May I ask you a personal question?"

"Yes. Severus, I am not the same insane nut case I was when I killed the Potters. Harry, when he brought me back after the first year, made sure I would remain sane."

Severus thought for a few seconds about what he was just told. "I was wondering how he took charge."

"We started out as equals, as part of our deal. It wasn't until his fifteenth birthday that we talked about our feelings. He knew I was interested in him and he laid it out for me. At first, I didn't want to agree but as time went on I found myself obeying his orders all the time or getting his advice. I always spoke to him and we decided together on a course of action." The Dark Lord looked at Severus. "He is not just a wizard."

"He's not?" Severus asked.

"No, I am not." Harry said from the doorway. "It's done. I expect them to find his body in the morning since no one will know he is missing as of yet."

The Dark Lord helped Severus into the tub. "Soak." The Dark Lord started to clean Severus.

"Use your shampoo and conditioner on his hair. I think it will work best on his hair." Harry told him. "Put him to bed, give him a sleep potion, and join me afterward."

"Yes, Harry."

Severus watched Harry leave the bathroom and enjoyed the attention the Dark Lord was giving him. Nothing was spoken besides simple instruction from the Dark Lord when he started to wash Severus' hair. "I will see if I can get you a healing potion later."

"I am fine. He is correct, besides I have endured worse." Severus stated. "Honestly I know me, I will need a reminder." Severus stood up as the Dark Lord held up a towel for him.

"Severus, he isn't a bad master." The Dark Lord stated.

"No, I didn't think he would be. He could have been much harsher earlier." Severus felt secure in who he selected for the first time.

"He can be. Don't take him being easy on you as him being soft. The Death Eaters are afraid of him for a reason. He has taken control and he has kept it. Lucius even respects him, he fears Harry but he also respects him."

Severus followed the Dark Lord into the bedroom. He wasn't sure what to think about that new information. He knew, however, he had selected the winning side in this war. "He is still learning, he is always reading and learning more. He has a lot of questions. He is going to want you to teach him potions. You need to remember he isn't his father."

"I know. Tom." Severus tried the name when he didn't get any reaction he continued, "I learned about his relatives. They treated him worse than a house elf."

"I know. He has spent every summer with me, we have put a golem there each year, it barely made it to the end of the summer. We had to pump magic into it almost bi-weekly." The Dark Lord responded. "You will find he isn't the Harry Potter you knew at Hogwarts. That is a just a mask."

Severus touched his new mark. "I believe I am learning that."

The Dark Lord didn't respond, instead waited until Severus got into bed and started to walk out of the room, he turned. "Get some sleep. We'll wake you for lunch. If you wake before lunch and find yourself hungry, call for Dobby or Winky."

"Thank you." Severus said and closed his eyes as he heard the door close. He was going to enjoy his new life. He wasn't under Dumbledore's thumb any longer.

Meeting the Death Eaters

Severus woke up and rolled over onto his back. He felt a slight sting from where Harry had punished him. He smiled. He belonged to Harry now. He heard a knock at his door. "Enter." Severus watched the Dark, no, Tom walk into the bedroom.

"Good afternoon Severus. I came to see if you were up for some lunch down in the dining room."

"Just give me some time to get dressed." Severus started to sit up.

"Are you still sore?"

"Yes, but not in a bad way, it's more of a pleasant way that will help me remember Harry is in charge."

"Lunch will be served in thirty minutes." Tom moved over to the wardrobe. "Harry grabbed a lot of your clothes from Hogwarts and some of your books this morning. He went in during the confusion when they discovered your golem."

"I hope he didn't strip it?"

"No, he took most of your books, ones he knew you couldn't replace. He replaced them with some muggle books and other things. Your clothes he replaced with similar ones." Tom was pulling out a robe and some muggle clothing for Severus to wear. "Here, wear these trousers with some cotton undergarments, they won't rub too hard against your butt and new mark. Here is a green silk shirt, your new Death Eater robes are also here. You will need them for the meeting after lunch."

"New robes?" Severus took the clothes from Tom.

"Yes, black with silver woven into them. Your new name will be Lord Argent." Tom said. "Harry is Lord Emeraude. The elite will know who you and Harry are, the outer and inner won't. Especially the outer, since some of them aren't marked."

"A new mask too?" Severus started to get dressed. Tom, he noticed, sat down in one of the chairs in the room.

"Yes, a black one with silver inlaid in it. Harry's is emerald." Tom looked at Severus' robes. "You need better robes."

"Tom, did he fix your looks?" Severus asked. "I am sure Harry will fix any wardrobe issues."

"Yes, a potion he found. We made it. He wasn't impressed with Wormtail screwing up the ritual." Tom answered. "Yes, he will. You won't be having so many buttons on them for sure."

Severus smirked. "I kind of knew that." They didn't speak as Severus finished getting ready. When he was done he exited the bathroom. "The formal dining room?"

"Yes, you won't need the mask until later, it will be just us. Lucius will join us about thirty minutes before the meeting. Harry wants him to know ahead of time. Bella might be a problem, but she will respect Harry's choice." Tom answered. "She won't hurt you."

"I can handle her."

"You won't do a thing. Harry will do it." Tom responded. "If Bella attacks you outside of the meeting, you can deal with her, but until then, Harry will handle it. Don't push him on it."

"Lead the way." Severus walked to the door. Tom touched his arm.

"I am serious Severus. He won't want you to do anything until afterward and only if she attacks you." Tom warned.

"I understand, Tom, I really do. I won't do anything to Bella unless she attacks me after the meeting. I don't need Harry giving me another reminder in obeying him."

Tom and Severus walked down to the dining room. They arrived and found Harry already sitting there. Severus and Tom took a seat on each side of Harry. "Severus there is a pain potion if you need it." Harry was reading a letter.

"I am fine Harry." Severus watched Harry by hiding his glaze behind a wall of hair, as Harry looked at him closely.

"Tom explained the rules?" Harry returned to his letter. Harry snapped his fingers and lunch appeared on the table. It was fresh salmon with lemon over brown rice and fresh green beans.

"No, I didn't." Tom answered instead. "I just informed him of the new robes, his clothes, books, and Bella." Tom looked around. "Elf, tea." Tea appeared on the table.

"Rules are simple Severus, when I give an order I expect it to be obeyed. We will discuss anything and everything, but if I give an order, you will obey. When it comes to taking out Dumbledore we will discuss it. I won't restrict your potion brewing unless I make it a punishment. You will not call Tom, my Lord or any other variation of that title. You won't treat me as you did in Hogwarts. You will not act in any way like you did in Hogwarts towards me. You will remember I am now your Master. I will punish you if you break these simple rules." Harry handed the letter to Tom. "Lucius will need to go to Gringotts."

Tom read the letter. "I hope he doesn't think this will work?" Tom looked back down at the letter again and to Harry. He wasn't sure what Dumbledore was trying to do by trying to gain going for the seats when the man knew Harry was of legal age.

"I believe he is hoping it will." Harry answered. "He won't give up. I believe it is time for Lucius to take my seats as my proxy." Harry poured himself a cup of tea.

Tom handed the note to Severus. Severus read:

Dear Mr. Potter,

I regret to inform you that Headmaster Dumbledore has again tried to access your accounts. He has been trying to gain control over your accounts and over your seats. He went to the Ministry, with your relatives' permission, to try and gain custody of you.

We have filed the correct information, and the Ministry stepped down. We would suggest you either take control of the seats or have someone else take them as your proxy. Lucius Malfoy would be able to gain control if you assign your seats to him.

Also be aware, we received a request from him to take Severus Snape's seats. Mr. Snape's Will will be read at the end of the week.

Ironclaw

"I don't have a Will." Severus laid down the letter. "I don't have any seats to Will to Lucius, my grandfather was using them, when he died, it went to whoever his heir was. I believe it was a distant cousin." Severus paused, seeing Harry and Tom were waiting for him to realize what happened. "He used my seats. That man used my seats. He stole my inheritance."

"You will have a Will by the end of the day, Severus. Give your seats to either me or Lucius as a proxy. I will be giving him mine to use until we can come out of the shadows." Harry answered. "Tom, same with you." Harry laid a hand over Severus'. "He will pay."

Severus nodded his agreement as he calmed down, realizing what Dumbledore had done to him, he had also done to Harry. "Yes, Harry." Severus heard Tom answer. "I already filled out the paperwork." Severus looked up as Tom finished speaking.

"I will have Lucius write me up a Will and assign the seats to him." Severus answered. "How are you going to cover up your seats going to him?"

Harry looked at Severus. "I am the head of numerous family lines, I can seal who I assign the use of my seats. Yes, he most likely will know but he can't prove it. It's also been a few weeks, so he might even believe Lucius bribed someone in the Ministry to gain control over them."

"I will vote he will believe he was bribed." Tom answered. "After Severus' Will reading, it will make Lucius the Chief Warlock."

Harry's tilted his head and looked at Severus. "Severus make your Will, leaving the seats to Draco, he would expect that. Draco is underage still, so Lucius will use them. I have a better idea for mine. He only knows about the Potter ones. He doesn't know about the various other seats. I will give Lucius those seats but I have a better idea for the Potter ones."

"What are you thinking of Harry?" Severus was wondering where Harry had developed his skills. He glanced to Tom and realized Tom had taught him the control he needed over his emotions.

"If he uses the two seats from the Potters, it won't make a difference, especially since he is losing the Prince ones. The Black ones were given to me by Sirius and since Sirius is still alive, he will be confused as to who has them. Dumbledore has no idea who controls them, Sirius actually doesn't care. He doesn't know that I have control over them. I will have Ironclaw put Narcissa as the proxy on them so that Lucius can use them also without Dumbledore saying anything, as he will believe they went to her as she the only Black able to take control. Sirius can't because he was in Azkaban, so he wouldn't be able to inherit them, even though I was Heir Black at the age of eleven because of it. So we will be giving Lucius so more. I have another forty-one seats, plus the Prince ones." Harry explained.

"The Prince had six. I believe we might have more now." Severus wasn't sure how many seats the Prince ones had, but since the vaults were growing from the investments, they should have earned more seats.

"Add my fifteen to it and we have more than enough to take over the Wizengamot." Tom stated.

"That will make one less title for Dumbledore to have. I want him nameless, penniless and then we take Hogwarts from him." Harry stated. "Lucius should be here soon."

"Harry-" Severus started to ask a question but stopped as Harry froze.

"Bella is here, why is she early?"

"I am not sure." Tom answered. "I only asked Lucius to be here."

Bella came almost running into the room. "My Lords, I have excellent news. Severus Snape is dead."

"I am?" Severus feigned his shock at the news. He watched as Bella froze in place and looked at the three of them. He enjoyed watching the confusion cross over her face when she finally realized it was Severus sitting there her wand was in her hand for about a second before it went flying into Harry's outstretched hand. Severus didn't even hear a spell again.

"Now, Bella none of that. I didn't spend last night and this morning setting up Severus' death for you to actually kill the man." Harry told the crazy woman. "How did you get passed Nagini and Sassa?"

"I didn't see them." Bella started to walk towards Severus.

"Tom." Harry stated.

"I will go and find them. They should have been in the front entrance hall, guarding."

~We were, Crazy One, stepped on me as she landed.~ Sassa hissed. ~She is lucky I didn't bite her.~

"Bella you stepped on Sassa when you apparated in." Tom said. "She isn't happy with you."

"I didn't mean to." Bella said. "Why is he here?"

"He is here because I want him here. He is here because he is going to go after Dumbledore with us. If you two have an issue with each other, sort it out after the meeting." Harry didn't want any disorder in the ranks.

"I don't have an issue with her Harry." Severus wasn't about to earn another spanking.

"You're a spy. You work for Dumbledore." Bella pulled a knife out of her skirt.

Harry stood up and with a push of magic, sent the crazy woman into the wall behind them. He pinned her there as he slowly walked forward. "My Lord, you can't trust him. He works for Dumbledore."

"Bella, do you think I would just allow him to walk in here without getting the truth from him?" Harry waved his hand, causing Bella to scream. "I know exactly what he is, and he isn't working for Dumbledore. If you ever disobey me again, I will skin you alive and feed you in pieces to Nagini and Sassa."

~Oh, I like that. We can make her last a long time that way.~ Nagini hissed and reared up and hissed into Bella's screaming face.

Harry turned and headed back to his seat. He ignored the screams coming from Bella as he sat down. "I do hope she will learn her lesson." As Harry finished his sentence the spell released Bella who sagged to the floor.

"I see Bella didn't listen." Lucius entered the room. "My Lords, Severus."

"Lucius." All three greeted the man. Lucius stepped over the crawling Bella and took a seat next to Tom.

"Ironclaw sent me an owl this morning." Lucius poured himself a cup of coffee.

"I received one also. I believe you have a plan already?" Harry asked.

"If it's fine with you, yes, but I am also thinking you have a plan of action and I am willing to bet it matches yours."

"I am not taking that bet." Tom remarked. "Last time I did, it cost me one of my rarer books and a scroll."

Lucius smirked. "Assign the Black seats to Narcissa, Severus will put in his new Will that his seats to Draco, me taking the proxy, you assigning your seats to me, except the Potter ones, so he doesn't know how I became Chief Warlock."

"How did you know that?" Severus ignored Bella as she finally stood up and sat down in the chair next to him.

"Who do you think taught him Politics and Law?" Lucius asked. "Harry most likely thought of a dozen ways before he started on one idea, informed you and revamped it again. He is the one who taught me how to pass some power to others while maintaining the power at the same time, like giving Draco your seats, but I will have the proxies."

"You will need to draw up a Will for Severus. I already got some of his most valuable items out of Hogwarts during their craziness this morning." Harry said.

"Lucius, make it simple, leave everything to Harry and Draco. Harry gets everything but the seats and a few selected books." Severus informed the man. Since he wasn't technically dead, the fake Will wouldn't matter. He also knew in the future, he would be leaving everything except for a few things to Harry, as was proper for someone in a relationship with another.

"That will make the man wonder." All four of them laughed as Lucius said it.

"I know." Severus smirked. "If he tries to hold onto anything of mine, as the executor, I want you to say you are going to be putting it in a vault with blood wards."

Harry laughed. "Blood wards, oh he will really love that."

Severus knew why Harry laughed. The blood wards at his relative's house were fake. There was nothing there to protect Harry against Death Eaters or Tom as Voldemort. "I will give you the passwords and security wards counters when Draco goes to clean out my quarters."

"It might be better to go as Draco." Lucius remarked.

"He won't be going to Hogwarts until we are ready to take it over." Harry stated, firmly, leaving no room for debate.

Severus went to protest but saw Tom shake his head no. He let it go and when he moved in his seat, he remembered what Harry said about his orders. He knew that was an order and while he was going to question it, his butt wouldn't have appreciated him questioning it. He was thankful he didn't take the pain potion that was still sitting on the table. He handed it over to Bella. He watched her drink it.

"How do you plan on introducing Severus to the others?" Lucius was changing the subject.

"He will be Lord Argent." Harry answered. "He will move into the Elite." Severus smiled. He was actually in the Elite now. "I want everyone to start training. They need to be at least at Auror level, I would prefer Hit Wizard level, but will settle for Auror for when we want to go into battle. I know Dumbledore will be relying on kids mostly, but he will have the Ministry to back him unless we can get control."

"Do we need to control it before we take Hogwarts?" Tom asked.

"No, it would be nice, but Hogwarts doesn't fall under Ministry control. The land and Hogwarts are all privately held, and it's held between the two of us." Harry answered. "Lucius, I believe that will be the next research project, seeing if we can oust him as we are the owners."

"I already looked into that, for when Tom had his share. According to the charter, which was amended about one hundred years ago, the Board of elected officials would select the new Headmaster/Mistress based on the recommendation of the former. If the former one died without leaving anything behind, usually the Deputy got asked. The Owners at the time were too busy to care and set up the Board, giving them control."

"Can we change it?" Tom asked.

"Not without going through the Board and the Ministry. Once we get control over them, you can change it." Lucius answered. "It certainly would make things easier."

"Can we get some of our people in as professors?" Bella asked.

"We have tried, but Dumbledore sticks to people he knows or ones his friends recommend." Lucius informed her.

"That could actually help us." Harry stated. "Severus, do you know a potion master or anyone you feel could do the job?"

"To be honest, the only ones I feel I could trust, would be the Weasley Twins, while they are famous for their pranks they are excellent in potions. There are a few others, but I think the Weasley Twins will support you." Severus answered.

"Do you think Dumbledore will hire them?" Lucius asked.

"He might, short notice, he also doesn't have the greatest luck in hiring people." Severus answered him. "He actually might go for Horace Slughorn. He wanted him in place to talk to Harry about Tom and some of his items."

Harry laughed. "That will be a useless endeavor for Dumbledore."

"I absorbed most of them. It returned to me my sanity."

Harry stood. "The Elite are arriving. Nagini, Sassa, you know what to do."

Severus watched the two snakes slither out of the room and gave Harry a questioning look. "They guard the outside, making sure no one is spying." Lucius explained as Harry left the room without answering the unasked question.

"He could have answered me."

"He won't. Once the elite arrive he goes into his Lord Emeraude mask and I would recommend not asking too many questions unless it's about what he is asking you to do." Lucius explained. "Severus, he isn't Harry Potter in that room, he isn't the boy you think you knew, and he isn't Dumbledore's Savior or weapon. In there he is the ruler of the Dark. He is the Dark Lord, magic's chosen Dark Lord. I saw it the summer after his first year."

Severus looked at the door Harry just exited. "I am going to be punished again." Bella laughed as she headed out the door. "She is crazy."

"You will if you forget who he is." Tom answered. "Now let's go. The others will be here in about thirty minutes."

The three of them joined Harry in the main meeting room. Tom took his place next to Harry, as Lucius and Severus joined the others at the table. The table was a long rectangle with enough seats for twenty people on the sides and two at each end. Severus could see the Elite were wondering what was going on, as they were staring at him.

"I am sure you have read about the demise of our resident Potion Master Severus Snape." Harry stated. "As you can see the reports have been slightly exaggerated. You will not mention Severus being alive to anyone, including the outer and inner circle. If I hear of him being alive from anyone, even in a rumor I know it will be from one of you, and you won't like what I will do if the information gets out." No one said a word. "Lucius, explain what will be happening over the next few days and what you expect for our people in Wizengamot."

"Yes, my Lord." Lucius stood up. "Severus' Will reading will be at the end of the week. His seats will be ours. Our Lords' seats will also be assigned to me. We will be in control of the Wizengamot. I will need everyone to be on the same page next week when this happens. Dumbledore will try to get control back, I need all of you to make sure your alliances hold strong. Dumbledore will only have the Potter seats and I believe he has one of his own. We can't take the Potter seats without him realizing our Lord is in charge."

"I have a pending alliance with the Black family. He has been trying to pull that vote. Who will have the Black seats, my Lord?" Yaxley asked.

"Narcissa will have them for now, with Lucius sitting as the proxy." Harry answered. "Has he mentioned anything in regard to the Potter seats?"

"No, my Lord, he has been trying to form an alliance with the Potter seats but no one wanted to form one with those seats since they weren't sure if you would have appreciated it, even though Dumbledore has been your acting guardian." Yaxley answered. "He has been trying it with the Black seats too and got the same response. I don't believe he as an alliance with the Dumbledore seats."

"He doesn't, my Lord." Rookwood answered. "It is one of the reasons he has been so set on trying to get one with the Potter or Black seats, he was going to tie his own to them."

"His aren't as old as the Potter or Black, how was that going to work?" Rowle asked Rookwood.

"He would have to use the Potter seats as the head of the alliance, since they date back to the founders, while the Black ones only date back to about five hundred years ago. Dumbledore received his, after he defeated Grindelwald." Rookwood answered.

Harry looked at Lucius and they exchanged a grin. "I believe we have a slight change of plans." Tom said as he saw the exchange.

"We do, we get Dumbledore to form that alliance with the Black seats, he doesn't have the Potter seats, and when Lucius takes charge of it, he will be forced to vote our way." Harry leaned back in his chair and smirked.

"Yaxley since he approached you, go to him and see what you can work out. I can speak to later regarding the details if you like." Lucius informed the man.

Yaxley nodded. "The inner and outer are arriving." Harry said. "They are early." He muttered to Tom. Tom stood up and left the room to go and deal with the early arrivals. "Yaxley see if he mentions the Prince seats too."

"Yes, my Lord."

Severus looked at Harry and wondered what he was thinking. "Rookwood, has he been at the Ministry a lot?"

"Yes, my Lord, he was even looking for more advanced tracking spells, but he found nothing, as we moved the books into the vault. He has been trying to get the Minister to sign off on a guardianship for you. He hasn't had any luck. The goblins informed the Minister that if he did sign off, the Ministry would have a nice lawsuit against them."

"Good. Dawlish?" Harry asked.

"Aurors have stopped looking for you almost a week ago, except for his pets. Moody was in the department looking at old books, they were about tracking spells and charms. He tried a few, got no results, my Lord. Shacklebolt did suggest you could be hiding behind some wards, but Moody disagreed with that idea. Dumbledore even brought in Sirius Black to file a missing report on you. He tossed a fit when we informed him you were an adult and could do what you wanted."

"Did he let anything interesting slip?" Harry asked.

"Something about a marriage contract, he told Dumbledore that it had better be valid, my Lord. He also said something about the wolf."

"Good." Harry noticed several were wondering what he meant but he wasn't worried about it. "Anything else?" No one answered him. "Good, masks and let's go and see what our early arrivals are doing." Delete Chapter

: Tom Gets Into Trouble

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Severus flinched as he heard the Dark Lord yelled at one of the Outer Circle Death Eaters. He knew the Dark Lord was now in a bit of trouble, as Harry had been speaking to the man in question. the Dark Lord, hearing the man question Harry's orders. "How dare you interrupt him, Crucio."

Severus saw Lucius tense a bit, he didn't blame the man. No one wanted to be on the receiving end of Dark Lord Voldemort's Cruciatus Curse. "Enough." Harry said but the Dark Lord didn't release the spell for several more seconds. That was what got the Dark Lord into serious trouble as he could tell Harry wasn't happy with the Dark Lord.

"As I was saying, before our interruption, I want everyone to be ready to support our move in the Wizengamot." Harry paused for a second to look around the room. "Now, in regards to Snape's demise, I want your children to report what is going on at Hogwarts. If they report anything new or interesting, you will let us know. I want anything you hear in rumors, either at the Ministry or if you are doing errands. Dismissed, someone take care of the idiot. Elite stay." Harry waited until all but the elite remained.

The elite stood quietly waiting. "Find out who invited that man. Also, there were two other spies in the Outer Circle. I want them outed and find out how they are attending our meeting. They were in the back corner standing by Stoker and McNaulty." All of the Elite had removed their masks as soon as the doors had closed and everyone else was gone.

"I know who you mean; I will get on it, my Lord." Yaxley had been standing near Stoker and McNaulty during the meeting. Harry had set up the formation so that the Elite stood close to pockets of the Outer circle members as a way of learning more information. They could hear whispers that anyone might be saying.

"Good, use people from the Inner and Outer, I want you to find who our leak also. It's the only way they knew to be here tonight. Find out if that thief Dumbledore has any information." Harry told him. "Use anyone you feel you can trust to aid you."

"My Lord, I believe I know who the leak is. I heard something at the Leaky Cauldron earlier but now it makes sense." Rodolphus Lestrange said. His brother and he had their tea at the Leaky Cauldron after they had gone to Gringotts.

"What did you hear?" Harry was wondering how he missed a leak. Normally they were very careful, but they had three spies show up tonight. They needed to stop that leak. He was thankful nothing important was mentioned.

"I heard Broxen telling someone it's tonight and to make sure they were ready." Rodolphus answered. "I wasn't aware he was in the Outer Circle until I heard him speaking tonight when you asked about the docks. I believe the information he provided was information Dumbledore wanted you to hear. The information was filled with a lot of information not normally leaked out."

"I agree, when he started to provide the dock numbers and ship names, I had wondered about his information. We won't be going to the docks this week, work on setting up a quiet raid. Rodolphus I am sure you, your brother, and wife will enjoy learning the truth from Mr. Broxen." Harry gave him a slight smirk. "Don't kill him, he might be useful later, but do give him a vacation in our dungeons. Dock work can be so stressful."

Bella laughed, jumping up and down a bit at the idea of getting information for her Lords. "See who else he spoke to." The Dark Lord added.

"As you wish my Lords." Rodolphus stated.

"Severus will provide all of the Elite with a vial of Veritaserum. I want us to stay using it when we need to get the correct information, afterward use a memory charm. I don't want anyone hurt if we can help it in regards to finding out what Dumbledore is doing. If they are hurt he will know something is up. However, if we use Veritaserum and a memory charm, we can prevent him from finding out and at the same time, get honest information. He only scans the surface memories." Harry looked at Severus.

"I can provide everyone by the end of the week, my Lord." Severus answered.

"Dismissed." Harry turned and left the room. He knew that the Dark Lord and Severus were behind him. He went straight to his office and sat down behind his desk. Severus and the Dark Lord followed him. As soon as the wards informed Harry that everyone was gone, Harry looked at the Dark Lord. Severus watched the change from the Dark Lord to Tom.

"I know." Tom said. "I am sorry." Severus was a bit surprised, Tom was apologizing. He wouldn't have expected that from the man.

"Explain to me why?" Harry's voice was firm and unyielding. Severus was amazed that this was the same boy he knew in Hogwarts.

"I got upset with how he treated you. He wasn't respecting you." Tom didn't look sorry for doing it, Severus noticed. He looked more like he would do it again.

"Why did you ignore me when I told you to stop?"

"For the same reason, I knew I would be punished for it, but I did it anyway." Tom answered. Severus glanced at Tom. He realized the man didn't mind that he was going to be punished. Severus thought about what he endured and hoped that wasn't Harry's idea of punishment. He knew the man liked to be spanked, that much was clear from yesterday.

"Severus, I saw you flinch, why?"

"I felt bad for him, Tom's Cruciatus Curse is hard to endure." He didn't think he was in trouble. He hadn't done anything wrong that he knew of.

"Harry, I know I was wrong to not listen to you, and I accept whatever punishment you deem fit, but I won't apologize for doing it." Tom's posture was reflecting the honesty in his words.

"I wasn't expecting you too. I didn't punish you in front of them for the same reason I am not going to punish you for doing the curse in the first place. I want us to be seen as equals, that won't happen if I punish you for actions you normally would have taken." Harry explained. "Plus you were making sure I was respected. Which considering it was you, I wasn't surprised by that."

Tom grinned. "So a spanking?" Severus couldn't help it he let out a bit of a laugh, the man was eager to be spanked.

"I think you ignored my order so that I would spank you." Harry laughed as Tom didn't deny it.

Severus was a bit surprised, Tom wanted to be spanked. His butt was still a bit sore, and he didn't want a repeat of it. He watched as Tom stood up and walked over to Harry. "Bare, please?" Severus was learning things he would never have expected.

"Yes, my monster." Harry answered him and undid Tom's trousers. He pushed his chair away from his desk and Tom lay over his lap. "Severus I want you to watch. Punishment is something I expect you to earn, but I don't want you to be afraid of it. We will speak after this about your limits."

"Yes, Harry." Severus walked closer to the desk and saw that Harry was rubbing Tom's back and would gently touch his arse cheeks every once in a while.

"How many do you think you deserve?" Severus was confused, Harry was asking, instead of just making up a number and spanking Tom.

"For not obeying, fifteen, with an extra five for good behavior?" Tom pleaded. "Maybe ten if you think I have been very good."

"I am going to spank you, twenty is good. That is for being good. For your punishment, you are going to be Severus' lab assistant for a month. You will cut, chop, dice, and harvest ingredients for him."

Severus was surprised as Tom asked, "will you spank me again if I do a good job?" Severus felt like he stepped into another world. Here he just got told Tom was going to be doing all the thankless jobs in his lab and the man wanted to be rewarded with a spanking if he did a good job.

"Yes, if Severus says you have and you don't give him any backtalk about doing your punishment." Harry bent down and kissed Tom on his back, between his shoulder blades, Severus noticed that there was a tattoo there. "He had it done for my seventeenth birthday, it's a lightning bolt with a snake wrapped around it. You want a better look?"

"Yes, please."

Harry waved him closer and Severus now stood between Tom's legs, looking down at the tattoo. It was a green lightning bolt, with a Black Mamba snake around it, the head hanging from the vertical part of the bolt. "It's beautiful."

"He can turn into a Black Mamba. I can turn into a Russel Viper." Harry ran a hand down Tom's back, Tom moaned in pleasure. He arched his back a bit into Harry's hand.

"Two of the deadliest snakes in the world." Severus had awe in his voice. He would feel bad for anyone who tried to keep either of them a prisoner. Both snakes were very dangerous not just with their venom, but with how easy they would strike.

"Yes, we will provide you with potion ingredients." Harry gave him a slight grin and slapped Tom on his butt.

"We will teach you to become one. Harry, don't play, give me a real one." Severus thought if they could have seen his face, Tom would have been pouting.

"I already have an Animagi form. I can turn into a fruit bat." At Harry's urging, Severus touched the tattoo. He could feel the magic in the tattoo and watched as he kept his hand near it, the snake started to slither around the bolt.

"We can see about getting you one." Harry told him. "Maybe something with a cauldron, with the smoke forming the lightning bolt."

"I would like that." Severus loved the way the tattoo looked on Tom. He also wouldn't mind another reminder that he really did belong to Harry. He, truthfully, always knew he did. It was one of the reasons while he hated the idea of a forced bonding to Harry, he agreed anyway. He, however, wasn't going to be the master in the relationship.

"Harry can turn into batkitty." Tom earned light smack for it. "I am a black bunny, and if you ever tell anyone that, I will find a way to make you pay for it."

"Batkitty?" Severus wasn't going to tell anyone about Tom being a bunny. The man would kill him and whoever he told. He wasn't aware of being able to have more than one form but if they could do it, so could he. The potion did give people more than one form to select from, or so he was told. He wondered at the time why they could only select one form.

"I can turn into a bat and a kitten. I found a way to combine them. So batkitty. I am a black kitten with bat wings and fangs." Harry explained. "The potion used to select your form actually shows you all the forms you can take. I am still working on my last two. One is a panther and the other is an eagle. Your forms will be similar to your other one, with the exception of your snake form. The snake form is something we have to teach you with parsel magic."

"The potion showed me as a wolf, a vulture, and a Belgian Shepherd, so I can gain all of those forms and a snake?" Severus asked.

"Yes, sit on my desk I want you to watch closely. Now, I won't do anything you don't like, but as you can see, he is eager for a spanking. I didn't give him one this morning."

"You promised me you would make-up for it." Tom said from his position. He got a smack for his surly tone.

"I will, I already ordered that book you wanted."

Tom turned his head, looking up. "You did? Thank you, Harry. I know I could have ordered it, but I like you controlling that." Severus knew he explained that so that Severus wouldn't believe that Harry was going to limit Severus' choices.

"I know pet, I know but I think you have scared Severus enough tonight, let me give you your spanking and we will head up to our room. I still need to work out the details with Severus." Harry rubbed Tom's arse. "Such a great arse." He brought his hand up and spanked it.

"Yes. Thank you, please another?"

"Yes, you brat, I will give you the other nineteen." Harry told him. Severus watched with interest at how Harry spanked Tom, he alternated between each cheek and never at a set pace.

Smack.

"Harry." The love Severus could hear in the man's voice was shocking. Severus wasn't sure if anyone could have sounded so safe, secure and in love with another all in that one word.

Smack.

Severus listened to Tom moaning and toward the end begging for more. "He is a bit of a pain hog. He doesn't care for the extreme stuff despite what you saw in that room." Harry told Severus as Tom stood up from his spanking and Harry let him sit down on his lap. Harry wrapped him into a hug and Tom rested his head on Harry's shoulder.

"Let's get you a bath, and while you clean up, I will speak to Severus about rules and limits in terms of our relationship."

"I want to be there for it. I know what you will mean, and Severus will need some reassurance that you aren't a sadistic moron."

Harry gave Tom a kiss. Severus wasn't expecting that. Severus was starting to see a difference in when Harry was in his Dark Lord mode versus how he would interact with them. He liked both versions. He loved seeing the boy turned man because of Dumbledore's manipulations in charge at the same time seeing him act a lot like his mother, caring about how they were treated and making sure their needs were being met.

While he wasn't looking forward to the upcoming conversation in some ways, he was glad to get it out of the way. He got off of the desk as Tom stood up. "Sassa and Nagini are out hunting and will be back in a bit. They know to watch the Castle while we sleep." Tom explained to Severus as they were walking.

Severus gave a small smirk, so they had noticed him looking for the snakes. "They won't hurt you, if you want to get your own snake later, I am sure they wouldn't mind." Harry told him.

"I would like that, but since I am not a parselmouth, how will that work?" Severus asked.

"We have a way." Harry told him cryptically.

Once in the bedroom, Tom went to the bathroom. "The elves already have a bath ready for him." Harry explained. "This is where we sleep. I am not expecting you to join us right away, when you join us, it will be up to you."

Severus was suddenly very nervous. The only time he really had sex was usually with muggles and one night stands. "I am not sure you will want me to join you."

"Severus, what has that man done to your self-confidence? While I know you were a tough professor, snarky and mean at times, I never would have taken you for doubting yourself."

"I am aware of how I look. I am also very aware of how I am viewed." Severus snapped. "You don't have to sugar coat it. I was cruel and demeaning to you and others. It was a role I relished in fulfilling." He wasn't sure where those words came from.

"That is enough of the attitude. Severus. I wasn't sugarcoating anything. I understand that you are nervous, but giving me attitude isn't a good idea. We are going to talk about things one way or another." Harry told him. "Now take a seat, and I will get you some tea. Severus, I am not here to insult you or demean you. I want you to be honest with your wants and needs."

"It's Dumbledore's fault. He never had anyone listen to his wants or needs before." Tom shouted out from the bathroom.

"Tom, don't rush out of your bath, Severus is going to have some tea to relax him, and we will speak once you are done." Harry summoned some tea for Severus and took the seat close to him.

r Management

: Working Out The Details

Severus quietly thought as he drank his tea. He could hear Tom telling Harry things, but he wasn't really paying attention.

"Severus?" Harry touched his shoulder.

"Sorry, I wasn't listening."

"I could tell. What has you so scared?" Harry retook his seat. "Nothing will ever be done to you that will scare you or permanently harm you. I know I said you would be my submissive, but that doesn't mean I am going to hurt you."

Severus thought about what Harry said, compared it to his actions and found he trusted Harry. Yes, Harry did spank him without consent but it was because the truth wasn't known and Harry believed Dumbledore. He couldn't fault him for that, as he believed the man also. "I never had a relationship before. Everyone else was just a one-off."

Harry nodded his understanding. "Do you not want to join us in bed?"

"No, the exact opposite I am finding." He looked at his tea. "You put Veritaserum in this?" Severus wondered how he missed it, but he really wasn't paying attention. He had been to lost in his own thoughts.

"Yes, I felt it was needed."

"It was. I wouldn't have been so honest. But you didn't put the full recommended dosage."

"No, I only put in one drop. I wanted you to be able to think of your answers and still give me the truth." Harry answered.

"You needed it." Tom said from the doorway, he was wearing black silk sleep pants and had a towel in his hands as he was drying his hair. "We need to buy more of that shampoo if Severus is going to join us in the bedroom, which I hope he will."

"I am still trying to process your thoughts on my body from last night. I never knew you wanted me for more than your potion master."

"I wanted you for years. Harry clearly not as long. He wasn't interested in sex until about two years ago." Tom leaned down and whispered, "When he hit his sexual awareness stage. He was never confused about his sexuality, however."

Harry laughed. "No, I wasn't. He hides his body very well under those robes."

"I agree. No more of those robes I take it?" Tom ran a hand down Severus' back. "I can't wait to see a cauldron on his back. What type of snake do you think he will be?"

"A Coral Snake." Harry answered. "Deadly, yet often confused with being harmless, because of Scarlet King Snake. That is Severus. He is often confused with being harmless because he is a potion master. People forget how deadly he is in dueling or how deadly potions can be."

"Yes, I can see it." Tom agreed. "We will give you the recipe for the ability tomorrow."

"I would love that. You know your snakes." Severus stated.

"He does, I think he was hoping to get another snake form." Tom grinned. "Now, are you going to join us in bed, after your negotiations?"

"I think so. I am nervous, but what you said last night makes me feel better." Severus didn't know where the words were coming from but he knew they were the truth.

"Harry will never do anything that you won't like. Well, punishment isn't something I like, but it's not anything to worry about. You know my latest punishment." Tom gave Severus a kiss, on the cheek.

"Severus, what scares you?" Harry asked.

"Being used again, never finding someone who will let me be me." Severus hung his head. He hated what Dumbledore had done to him. For years he knew the man was using him, ever since he took that Vow.

"Severus, I am going to make a few promises to you right now. One is that you will never be used. Two is that you're very much wanted. I wanted you to join us before that marriage contract happened."

"I know, Tom told me." Severus looked up through his hair, wondering what Harry would say to that.

"Good. So you know my words are true. Three, I will never push you to do something you refuse to do or are your hard limits. I will push the softer limits, at times, but nothing that will hurt you. Four, you are part of this team. Your voice will be heard. When I said I wanted you to help take out Dumbledore I meant it. The terms of your submission will be discussed in a contract."

After four hours they had their contract written up. Severus was rereading it before he signed it.

Contract of Submission

This contract is written to make clear the duties, rights, and obligations of both Severus Snape, the submissive, and Harry Potter, the dominant. From the date of signing, this contract will be in full effect, bound in magic, until both parties are in agreement to the termination. Either party may decide to change this contract. In the event of a change, the above parties will come together and discuss the change. All opinions will be taken into consideration. Both parties should make every attempt to agree to the change. If an agreement can not be reached, Harry will make the final decision and Severus will live by it or the contract becomes null and void.

Right, Duties, and Obligations ~ Submissive

A. I promise to obey the will of Harry Potter in all things. I understand that His decisions will be made with the ultimate care and thoughtfulness for my wellbeing mental, physical, and emotional state in mind, the decisions He makes will be made sober and they will allow me to maintain my career and my business.

B. I promise to conduct myself with the utmost respect for Harry. I will address Him as Harry, Master in front of the followers unless it would be indiscreet to do so; in which case, I will use the His name.

C. I will act in a manner that will make you proud to have me at your side. I will do nothing to bring unwanted attention to myself from others or embarrass you. I only seek your attention and praise.

D. I understand that, above all else, it is my duty to please Harry and I promise I will endeavor to do so. I will speak respectfully and truthfully, conduct my tasks quickly and efficiently, and see to Harry desires and needs. These needs may be social, sexual, or those that fall under service.

E. I understand that Harry does not feel the need to micro-manage me. Harry believes me to be an adult. I am to know my duties and responsibilities. I am to execute them without any reminders. Harry is not my minder.

F. In the event that I am to make a decision without the ability to consult Harry, I am to consider all options and make the decision that I feel would best serve Harry, our agenda in regards to our side in the war, and my commitment to this relationship.

G. I understand Harry's reliance on safe word obligates me to use them and I promise to do so. I will use "yellow" as a warning word to request that Harry slow down, ease up, or change direction while continuing the session. I will use "red" to immediately end a scene or session, or if I become fearful, I will explain why I stopped a scene or session.

H. I am to give myself freely to Harry. In doing so, I am to be open and honest about my wants and needs, to let go of my negative self-destructive thoughts and behaviors, and be secure in the ability of Harry to make me feel safe in expressing these things to Him.

I. I am free to ask any questions that I have. I have a right to an answer from Harry. He will always answer me, taking my feelings and concerns into consideration.

Rights, Duties, and Obligations ~ Dominant

A. I promise to care of Severus, in body, mind, heart, and soul. I will help him, teach him and guide him, show him his limits and take him beyond them, within the context of his boundaries. I have the right to use his body so long as I do not damage him, inflict lasting injury, or harm him mentally. I have the ability to use him as a servant, have him tend to my whims and needs and I will do so. I will use implements and tools on him for my own pleasure, I will bind him, restrain him, and I will have him sexually.

B. I will not use alcohol or drugs at any time when we are together. I will help him find pleasure in submission, and I will make sure that he knows when he has pleased me. I will reward and punish him for his efforts and failures, but I will take the time to hear his thoughts and nurture him as he grows.

C. My sub is a precious thing to me, and I seek to make him strong and powerful. I will not interfere with his work unless I restrict experiments due to punishment. I will not stop his brewing unless he becomes pregnant, we will discuss the limits at that time. Nor will I make unreasonable demands upon his time.

D. I am aware that he may dislike some of my choices, and I know that my word is the final authority in all matters. I will, however, listen to his opinions and thoughts with respect and I will consider his opinions. His needs outweigh his preferences, and it is my duty to ensure he understands that. I will set a routine and rules for Severus, and I will let him know what the punishments are for infractions. I will set daily discipline if needed. It is my duty to be constant for him and to be reliable, sober and caring. I will respect the list of my subs preferences, and discuss them with him.

Rules and Protocols for Severus

1) You will have final say on all clothing I wear. Requests for certain types of dress will be given at the time I am getting dressed and I will comply to the best of my ability. If my attire does not meet your approval I will change until it does.

2) I will sleep naked at all times.

3) When protocols are broken, punishment will be given by you as you see fit. Punishment will be given within 24 hours of the infraction or the punishment is waived.

4) I am to eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, attend tea unless I have an issue or am excused. This is to keep me healthy.

5) I am free to choose my own friends. If you feel that they are not good for me we will discuss it. If you feel they need to go then I am to end the friendship.

6) I am to maintain all homeschooling, household, and childcare responsibilities.

7) You have final say on how money is spent. I can order books, potion ingredients, and other items unless I am on punishment. You can limit what I spent if I am overspending or on punishment. I can gather potion ingredients if I am not on punishment and you feel it is safe for me.

8) I will not practice the destructive behaviors I have in the past. If I do practice these I will be immediately punished.

9) I will not masturbate without permission.

10) Above all else my primary focus shall be to please Harry, hoping that He finds me pleasing in all that I do, whether I am in His presence or not. Harry trusts that I will act in accordance with what he perceives of my potential.

11) I will trust Harry, with his concern for my safety, my emotional, psychological, social, sexual, and physical health.

12) I will not hesitate when responding to Harry, I will be honest with my answers.

13) I will not treat Harry as he is my student. I will remember to be respectful.

14) I will thank Harry for the discipline and punishments I receive, specifying what I received and expressing the reason as to why I was being disciplined.

15) I am always in submission to Harry, he is the head of our house, whether Harry is present or not. I will be ready to please Him at any time, in any place, under any circumstances, in regards to our contract, without breaking the bounds with which the contract was created. I trust Harry will keep me safe, protecting our reputations in the presence of others.

16) I must always wear clothing of good taste, chosen by Harry unless given permission to do so otherwise. I will wear clothing that reflects my station as a member of Harry's household. I am will wear clothing reflecting I am now a co-leader of the dark faction.

17) Unless otherwise given permission, my hair must be kept clean, worn at my desired length, which is long and free of restraint, unless we are at social engagement were pure-blood traditions are required.

18) I will fear no other for Harry will protect me, with Tom Marvolo Riddle.

19) Whenever Harry is speaking, even if I am speaking, during a meeting, I am to immediately become silent so I may be able to listen intensely to what Harry has to say. I must never interrupt Harry unless I find a way to ask Harry's permission to speak quietly to him, regarding any orders, concerns during a meeting. I will learn parseltongue, with the aid of spells and a potion to enable me to meet this requirement. This will aid us in presenting a united front in front of the dark followers.

20) When Harry feels we are ready and our relationship has progressed to a lifelong commitment, I shall be given a bonding band, and the three of us will move forward with a traditional bonding ceremony. Thereafter, I shall become Severus Tobias Potter-Black, consort to Lord Harrison James Potter-Black and Tom Marvolo Potter-Black.

21) I will remember I am Harry's greatest treasure. I will remember not to demean myself, put down my self-worth or accept that type of treatment from others. I am a sexual and sensual being.

22) I must never reach orgasm without explicit permission from Harry. Failure to receive properly asked for permission, I will endure the punishment Harry as set forth, which discussed includes chastity and denial. I must tell Harry if I have had an orgasm without his permission so that I can be properly punished for my disobedience and disrespect.

23) The safe word given to me by Harry can be spoken at any time - even when I have been told to be silent. If I am not able to verbalize it - I trust Harry will show me how I can express it. Safe words are for my protection as well as his. I must be careful not to take more than I can handle, as he will need to know when to stop from getting carried away with his own passions - so that I may be prepared over time to endure more for our mutual pleasure.

24) My safe word, verbal or otherwise, cannot be used when I am being punished. I must remember that punishment could never be very effective if I were able to control it, however, the punishment will not break any hard set limits, I must take it in full measure - so that I will focus on the correction of my behavior for the long term, for unlike discipline, punishment is not what I will want again. I should know better. However, safe words can be used when I am being disciplined - Harry will let me know which is which when the time has come that such treatment is necessary to correct my behavior.

25) I must confess to Harry when I have misbehaved or behaved with unacceptable behavior, so that he may decide if such violations require me to be disciplined or to be punished. I willing accept whatever decisions he makes. During this time I will focus how my behavior affects our relationship, our goals, or even our standing in our world.

26) I realize Harry has another submissive, Tom Marvolo Riddle. I must trust that Harry will work to keep our relationship between the three of us healthy, sexually, mentally and physically. Harry will also provide whatever measures are necessary to protect us from the eruptions and ravages of any jealousy which may try to corrupt our relationships that now exists between each of us - including the one we each have with Harry.

27) I am a male submissive, of worth and value my dominant, Harry. My role has been clearly brought into definition through my ability to recognize and to act accordingly with my true nature, enhanced through the teachings of Harry, and through the continued practice of my primary focus, and my search for every opportunity to do so.

28) I shall never think of myself as a weak person for it takes a strong person to commit to serve, to obey and to please a dominant. I have responsibilities and as natural as they may seem to me it is important that I use all of my faculties including my creative spirit to submit to Harry in a unique fashion personal to my relationship with him.

29) I am allowed to suggest improvements to further my training, the use of me either verbally or in my journal.

30) The money I earn is mine to keep. Unless it follows under the previous part of the contract regarding a collaborative work. I will accept that Harry will provide food, clothing, and shelter, as the Head of House. Harry will not restrict my money, unless it's part of a punishment, in regards the handling of my finances.

31) I willing gift to Harry my body, mind and spirit, in faith of his knowledge of the skills, safety and first aid measures necessary to put me through painfully ecstatic and euphoric play; aromatherapy where he will throw me into higher states of consciousness with the scents of oils and incense; pleasing my body, with the use of toys and other implements; restraints, at certain times, to get me to focus on myself and my own pleasure.

Consequence and Refusal

Discipline- All Services performed by submissive shall be considered binding obligations while directed during the effective period of this Agreement. As such, and under Dominant's exclusive discretion, provisions for the punishment of submissive for refusal to perform, or when the submissive becomes lax in their diligence, may be presented on an "as needed" basis and as required to provide direction and training to submissive. Any punishment deemed necessary for the direction or training of submissive may be performed immediately, regardless of location, time of day or personal discomfort, or scheduled for a later time or location depending entirely on the circumstances of the offense and the desires of Dominant.

Safe Word- Establishment of a "safe word" is for the safety of submissive and shall be acted upon according to the sane judgment of Dominant. The chosen "safe word" means to stop the scene or activity completely and is used when submissive wishes to terminate the activity. Submissive's chosen Safe Word will be: yellow for slow down, red to stop. If it is deemed that the chosen safe word is being used excessively, or without regard to actual conditions, severe punishment of submissive is warranted for Safe Word abuse.

Ownership of Materials-All materials produced as a result of this Agreement, including but not limited to images, logs, records and files, that Dominant or submissive may make, conceive, or be a part of, either solely or jointly with others during the period of service with Dominant shall belong exclusively to the creator.

Severus looked up from what he read. "Any questions?" Harry had been reading a book while Severus had been reviewing the contract.

"No, it seems you covered everything, even things we didn't discuss." Severus answered. "You do realize you could make this into a complete slave contract and I would have signed, as I know you wouldn't have broken your word."

"Do you want to be a slave?" Harry asked.

Tom was kneeling at his feet. Tom looked half asleep, as he was leaning into Harry's legs, with Harry running his hand through his hair. Severus wanted that, he wanted the kind of relationship. Someone to cherish him, to take care of him but more importantly, care for him. "No. I want what you two have. A loving, trusting relationship. One where I can speak my mind, not always calling you Sir, Master, or my Lord. You are giving me that."

"That surprises him, Harry. He hasn't had the best of luck in finding it." Tom stated. "I wasn't exactly sane when he came to me."

"I am aware Tom. Severus, the three of us will be in this together. While we are going to be taking out Dumbledore, cleaning up the mess our world is in, I want your assistance. I want to see you squirming under my hands. I want to see you feeling a plug I will stick into you, as you go about your day, knowing I will be using you that night if I make it that long. Severus, I don't want you to be even viewed in the slightest way as less than what you are. You are a strong, determined, brilliant wizard and I hope that contract reflects that."

"It does. I know we discussed everything, I just didn't realize a contract would be produced tonight." Severus picked up the quill and signed it. "So do my clothes suddenly appear in a wardrobe in this bedroom?"

"They already are and it's our bedroom." Harry answered. "As for the contract, I had it already written up."

"You did?" Severus was a bit shocked, Tom started laughing.

"He doesn't know, Harry."

"True. Severus, the reason why I know the contract would work and what you want is that I am a Dark Camazotz. In Maya mythology, Camazotz was a bat god. I am not a god, but I come from the line that stems the legend. Camazotz means "death bat" in the K'iche' language. In Mesoamerica, the bat was associated with night, death, and sacrifice."

"Batkitty." Severus stated.

"Yes, it's how I was able to combine the forms. I can even do it with my snake form."

"Yes, he can. There is nothing like seeing a flying Russel Viper." The Dark Lord smiled from his position. "He can do scary very well."

Severus smiled, despite himself as Harry continued with his explanation. "In the Popol Vuh, Camazotz are the bat-like monsters encountered by the Maya Hero Twins Hunahpu and Xbalanque during their trials in the underworld of Xibalba. The twins had to spend the night in the House of Bats where they squeezed themselves into their own blowguns in order to defend themselves from the circling bats. Hunahpu stuck his head out of his blowgun to see if the sun had risen and Camazotz immediately snatched off his head and carried it to the ballcourt to be hung up as the ball to be used by the gods in their next ballgame. In Part III, chapter 5 of the Popol Vuh, a messenger from Xibalba in the form of a man with the wings of a bat brokers a deal between Lord Tohil and mankind, wherein mankind promises their armpits and their waists (the opening of their breasts in human sacrifice) in exchange for fire."

"I read that myth, how they got fire."

"It's a myth in the sense, that the twins did indeed spend the night in the House of Bats, however, they left the next morning, nothing happened to them. The story spread because Hunahpu got tired of answering questions and joked he left his head in the ballcourt, though time has changed the legend, of course." Harry ran a hand down the Dark Lord's back, who arched up a bit for more contact.

"So they have mates, and that is how you knew?" Severus saw the smile that appeared on their faces.

"Yes." Harry answered as he cast tempus. "Do you wish to sleep here with us or back in your own room?"

"I think I answered that when I asked about my clothes. I want this to work." Severus was firm in his conviction that this was the right direction to take in his life for the first time ever. He had never felt so sure of anything, not even when he decided to take the dark mark.

Harry stood up and Severus was naked, as was Tom. "Bed."

Chapter Management

: Plans

Severus tried to roll over but was met with two forces stopping him. Harry was to his right, and he had his back toward Tom. His face was pressed against Harry's chest. He was warm, comfortable, and really didn't want to move. "Good morning." Harry kissed the top of his head.

"Morning, xo we have to get up?" He was usually up at 6 AM for classes. However, he really wasn't a morning person.

"No. How do you feel?" Harry asked as he touched Severus' cheek running his hand down Severus' neck to his chest.

Severus didn't answer right away as he processed his body. He was sore, but it was a good sore. He ached in places that let him know he enjoyed himself last night. "Achy but it's the good type of ache, I am not sore. Once I get up and moving I will be fine. I need a shower."

"Take a shower, but don't get dressed." Harry kissed him again. "We will join you in a few minutes." Harry got out of bed to allow Severus to head to the bathroom. As Severus got off of the bed, Harry pulled him into his arms, giving him a hug.

Once Severus was in the bathroom and they could hear the water running Tom said, "I will take care of him."

"I know. Just don't overwhelm him. You can get overbearing at times, you will need to remember he isn't one of the followers any longer. He is our mate."

"I might need more reminders." Tom replied.

"I am sure you will. I want you to take care of him, but remember he is equal to you in this relationship unless he decides to submit to you. I will not force it and neither will you. Though based on last night, I expect he will submit to you in bed. Bella might be an issue. She still believes she can get into our bed."

"Bella needs some help. I will speak to Narcissa."

"Do so. Also, speak to Rod. Have him aid Narcissa in getting her some help." Harry replied.

Severus grinned as he removed the spell from the door. He wasn't sure what he was expecting to hear but that wasn't it. He knew he might get into trouble for listening, but he needed to make sure it was real. He wasn't sure about submitting to Tom all the time, but in the bedroom, yes, he would be doing that. He felt he made the right choice in signing that contract. He stepped into the shower.

When Severus made his way down to the dining room, he found the Harry he met yesterday at breakfast, not his dominant lover. He smirked as he saw a letter passed to Tom. "Deal with that before I kill him."

"Yes, Harry." Tom stated as he took the letter.

Severus made it to his seat before Tom pushed his chair back, tossed the letter to him and stormed out of the room. Severus picked up the letter and read it.

'We have an issue at the docks. Traitor caught, but he provided more information to Dumbledore then we thought. Aurors and Ministry personal there, we escaped with the traitor.'

Severus knew how the Dark Lord dealt with traitors. He felt bad for the man, but the man knew the risks. Dumbledore certainly didn't care about the pawns. Dumbledore would be upset he lost two spies with the recent loss of himself and now his traitor.

"Tom will deal with the other two also." Harry stated. "I have no idea why the man keeps sending these flunkies as spies. We have caught them each time."

Severus thought for a few minutes as Harry read his mail. "Harry, how do you find out about them?"

"Their Auras. I expect Dumbledore thinks we are using Legilimency but we aren't. He hasn't tried to send anyone strong in Occlumency but it's a matter of time before he does."

"He might be building up, figuring if he gives you a bunch of lower level spies, stops for a bit and then he can send in someone stronger." Severus paused "he views people like pawns so that is something he would do. Especially if the person can't really aid him in like with money, titles, or skills." He knew the only reason why Dumbledore kept him around was because of his skills with Occlumency and potions.

Harry looked at Severus. "That sounds like something he would do. Auras will reveal that, but for me, it's not a fully developed gift, I am learning more about it. It's why I wanted to speak to you about joining us. I knew you didn't fully support Dumbledore. Your aura changed at times when he said things. Sadly, auras don't let me know all. It just provides the general feeling of things. It's also why I stayed with the spanking. Something was off in your aura but I wasn't sure what it was."

"I had wondered about that. Tom is famous for his torturing. I was expecting it to be a lot worse, after seeing the wolf's back." The wolf's back had actually enforced that fact that Harry was a serious threat to his safety.

"Traitor." Harry spat out. "Did you know he was one of the ones being paid from my account? I am not sure what for. Lupin tried to tell me it was just to help him survive and he didn't know. He didn't realize I can see his aura, lied through his teeth."

"Did he ever admit why he was paid?" Severus hadn't had respect for Lupin since their second year when he just followed Potter and Black around.

"Yes, eventually, turns out during my third year he was paid to keep me from knowing he was a friend of my father's until the end of the year. They set up my yearly event when they realized Black escaped. So he got paid for my extra lessons, which I can understand, but when I asked if other professors got paid for their extra help, I learned they didn't. He was basically paid to make sure I learned the Patronus Charm, kept ignorant about his relationship with my parents, and to make sure I relied on Granger and Weasley."

"Do you know whom else he has been paying?" Severus had wondered why Harry had been friends with Granger and Weasley it was a very unlikely trio. He would ask those questions later. He poured himself another cup of tea. He figured they would be doing a lot of talking at the table as Harry was still reading his mail and seemed willing to discuss things.

"Yes a variety of Order members, however, based on what I have seen, I don't believe all of them are aware of it. I can't be sure because auras don't tell me what exactly. They tell if I can trust someone or if they are hiding something from me. I am sure you get the basic idea." Harry wrote a quick note on one of the letters. He handed the letter to Severus.

"I understand. It gives you a key indicator but doesn't exactly tell you what it's for at times." Severus glanced at the letter. It was just a quick update on the Wizengamot that they already knew.

"Correct. All of my years there have been tests to see how I handle things. Not really for developing my skills or teach me anything as he expected Granger to be the brains." He had to learn everything during the summer with Tom and Lucius.

"I had wondered about that. At first, I thought it was just you bumbling into something, because of his announcement during the Welcome Feast during your first year." He and Minerva had given the man a long lecture on exposing the third floor and at the end of the year when Harry had been unconscious up in the infirmary. Minerva joined him on the reminder of telling students the information about the stone.

"I will tell you what happened during those yearly events. Understand that Weasley and Granger were being paid to be my friends. The Weasley family was on the muggle side of the platform when I met them. After that, each year we went via the muggle side, while I saw all the pure-blood families either flooing or apparating in." Harry put another letter into a different pile. "Bill."

"Yes, it's done so that the muggle side doesn't get bogged down with wizards all coming into the station. Those platforms are crowded enough without adding more wizards to it."

"Exactly, they must not have thought I would realize it." Harry began to explain about the yearly events that happened.

Severus had seen Tom return with Lucius as Harry was describing his fourth year. "When I was ported out of the maze into the graveyard, Tom and I staged the remains of the ritual, the destruction of the graveyard, and he summoned the Death Eaters after we memory charmed Peter. After that, we did a fake duel, I pretended to escape and you know the rest. Fifth-year, we weren't expecting Umbitch to be there. Fudge was to put someone who could teach into the position. Dumbledore actually was at fault for that. No one wanted the position because they knew if they left their current jobs, they would be looking for work next year and well they didn't like hearing what happened to the previous holders of that position." They actually hadn't expected Fudge to be such an idiot.

"I didn't think anyone knew what happened to the previous professors. We certainly didn't know exactly, Dumbledore would just say everything was handled." The staff had tried to get the information out of Dumbledore but he just dismissed them.

"That would be because of me. I informed the applicants of the unfortunate demise of Quirrell, the sad state of Lockhart in the Janus Thackery Unit, the werewolf, and the real Mad-Eye in a trunk for the year. The Board was surprised at how quickly the applicants refused the position when it was offered. As for Umbitch, she will be getting hers." Lucius remarked. "None of the Board was happy to hear about her year as a Professor." He poured some tea and took a blueberry muffin.

"Yes, she will." Harry had an evil smirk on his face. "Bella, Rod, and Barty should be fetching her soon. I want to make sure we use the correct headlines. It's time for her to be used."

"I have it arranged. Two Professors' deaths will not look good for Dumbledore." Lucius replied. "I have the base story for you and Tom to review. We can fill in the details afterward." He watched Tom start reading through the mail to Harry's right. "Tom?"

"The traitors are on their way to our dungeons and I have Rowle and McNair working on getting answers." Tom answered.

"Good, we will need to keep them for a while. We don't want too many deaths. Keep Bella away from them for now, we don't need them dead or dying." Harry ordered. Severus was still amazed to see this side of Harry and he appreciated it.

"Umbitch will be delivered today. According to her normal Wednesday schedule, she will be at the grocer to get cat food." Tom couldn't keep his disgust out of his voice. "I hope she isn't in the sickening pink color."

"The Pepto-Bismol pink? She wears that color every day. I am going to be thankful never to see it again." Lucius knew with Umbridge gone, he could get more things done. "Draco did write something interesting last night."

"What?" Harry interest was piqued. He had wondered what Dumbledore was doing. They knew the students had more information then Dumbledore thought possible.

"After a few hours of trying to get into Severus' quarters, they finally brought in Bill Weasley, who got the wards down. Draco, who they tried to keep out, was in the main living area and heard Dumbledore mention getting Slughorn to return to teach to cover for the rest of the year. He then heard Dumbledore say that they needed to find Harry, for between Slughorn and Harry they were needed to find something."

Harry and Tom exchanged a quick look before they started laughing. "He fell for it." They had set up this plan years ago, and it was finally working.

Severus and Lucius were confused and at their puzzled look. "We decided to see if Dumbledore would fall for something so crazy we had to try it. We found these junk objects, transfigured them into items from the founders on four of them, and two others we just made things up. Anyway, Harry's idea was to pump my magic into each item." Tom let out another laugh.

"The idea came from the fact that Dumbledore has always told me he would explain how I had a connection to the Dark Lord. According to him, the connection became stronger after our fake ritual to bring Tom back. Last year and this year, he kept going on about our connection, showing me memories of Tom's life."

"How he expected that to work? I am not sure. We decided to use an old book that Slughorn had given to me. When I originally touched the book I felt a lot of compulsion magic on it. So as soon as I could I removed all the spells, read the book, found it interesting but I wasn't going to do anything crazy like breaking my soul apart. I was already heading down the crazy slope at that time."

"Soul Magic. Horcruxes, you created fake ones." Severus grinned. "That explains what he meant." He had wondered for years what the old fool had been planning.

"Severus?"

"When your parents were killed, he made me take a Vow as you know. However, for the last few years, he has been saying things like "when the time is right, I am going to ask you to do something very hard. Something you will not want to do, but it needs to be done." He would then mention your scar, how it was more than a curse scar."

"He thinks it's a Horcrux, and in order for the Horcrux to be removed, Harry would have to willingly die. It's one of the reasons he put Harry with those muggles. He needed his weapon to willingly die." Tom stated. "He needed to develop in Harry no self-preservation and to have Harry be willing to die for his friends."

"What if he doesn't find Harry?" Lucius asked he didn't know much about Horcruxes but what he did know about them wasn't good. There was a reason the man who did it was called Harpo the Foul.

"I expect he will move on to Neville Longbottom. He will have Granger and Weasley make friends with him and expect Neville to go hunting for the Horcruxes. The issue I see is trying to convince Lady Longbottom and if he is going to try and tell them six Horcruxes are out there or if he will say something else was the seventh?" Harry looked at the three of them.

"He will go with seven, it's a magical number, he has been pushing Tom as being into rituals, superstitions, and divination. So he will create a fake one, to sell it. The diary you mentioned earlier, he will use that to prove his point, especially since he can use Ginny Weasley as a witness to what it did." Severus had listened to years of Dumbledore telling him about the Dark Lord and his love for ancient rituals.

"Too bad her memories are faked." Harry grinned. "I wonder how he will be able to show her memories without someone noticing?"

"He won't. He will say it's too traumatic for her. He will have Molly and Arthur speak for her." Severus answered. "Unless Lucius can get the Board to start inquiry for the last few years. We can use my death and Umbridge's."

Harry leaned back in his chair for a few minutes and slowly grinned. "I do believe my journals will make an appearance. We use my relatives to deliver them. They are very greedy and if it gets leaked out I had money, my Uncle will do anything to show how badly I was treated in the magical world to get custody of me for the money. He just needs to find my journals detailing my adventures."

"We can have them dropped off. I can also arrange Ironclaw to set up a small vault, send a notice to them. It will also make it hard for Dumbledore to cover up what he has allowed to happen over the years to you. You know he will fight for control of the Potter seats." Lucius responded.

"Yes, and if he loses, we know Vernon can't take them, so they will sit idle until I can retake them." Harry responded.

"Do we want them out of play? He might go after other seats if we remove them. He only has the one." Lucius cautioned.

"He will count on the Black Alliance to aid him. I have kept some notes over the years of my adventures. I can just stick them into journals, so they will pass the age test. I will use parselmagic to make the others appear old." Harry replied. "I can have them in two days. How long do you think it will take for the Alliance to be formed?"

"A week, Dumbledore is very eager, so Yawley was able to meet with him today. The paperwork and contract are what will take up the next few days. I will find out what exactly Dumbledore expects." Lucius answered. "Yawley has more pull since he is an Ancient House were Dumbledore is still a new house."

"I am still wondering why he wants that Alliance." Harry stated. "He has to know if anything happens to me that Draco would be the next heir."

"I agree. I thought about it last night, and I believe it is one of the reasons he wanted you and Severus to bond. He put Severus as the Master for a reason, the reason being he fully expects Severus to obey him. He also would expect Severus to get you pregnant when he told him to." Lucius stated.

Severus tried to cover his shock. He didn't think of that aspect but it did make sense. He had wondered why the Master was in the contract, but Harry not listed as a slave. "It would also explain Harry not being listed as the slave since if Harry was listed like that, the Black seats would have passed directly to Draco." Tom explained.

They could feel that magic flooding the room. Harry was furious. Harry got up, stormed out of the dining room. "Where is he going?" Severus asked.

"The training room. I hope no one bothers him on his way there or they will find out the hard way he is in a bad mood." Tom replied. "Lucius is there a way to use that contract that he wrote up?"

"Numerous ones, since it was a fake contract. However, I see a slight issue with using it. If we use it, it will require punishment on the offenders' part. One of the signers was Sirius Black. Since he is still alive, he might be forced to marry all who signed, and depending on how magic punishes them, Black might be forced to reproduce, giving a legal heir."

"Unless we get him removed first." Severus responded. "The Black Charter is one of the strictest Charters. My mother told me that. Maybe that is why Black hasn't been able to claim the Lordship. He might not be able to because of his time in Azkaban."

"I will ask Narcissa about it. We might even be able to get him removed from the family with Harry, Narcissa, Bellatrix, and Draco working the Black family magic. There isn't anyone to counter it. Andy was removed from the family, so her and her daughter can't." Lucius responded. "I will present the idea to Harry once I know he won't cast a spell first and ask questions later."

"Actually, we might be able to do that with a lot of Order of Phoenix members. Some of them have dark families in their ancestry. We could have them removed from those families, depleting their family magic." Tom answered.

"Do it, all." Harry said from the doorway. "I didn't make it very far. It turns out I found a little sneak." Harry tossed an animal into the room. It was a raccoon, in a cage. "Anyone know who it is?"

"Homorphus Charm." Lucius commented. He looked at the raccoon. "We could just feed it to the snakes."

"We could. I don't think Nagini has had raccoon before." Tom replied. "I will work on updating the wards after this." He should have updated after he used Pettigrew to spy.

"On my count, cast it, Lucius. Tom, Severus keep your wands on our furry friend. I am going to banish the cage." Harry commented as he kept his wand drawn on the raccoon.

"Well isn't this interesting. Hello, Poppy." Harry greeted, smiling at her.

"Mr. Potter, Severus. So I was right." Poppy grinned. "Do you know how long I have been looking for you, Harry? I was worried when I didn't hear from you. I did find that little box in my office, so I know you were down in Severus' office removing his possessions, which you had perfect timing on. Dumbledore wanted to get in there and claim everything before anyone else saw it. It seems he is missing a large amount of books and items from his office."

"Well, if you had told me you were a raccoon, I wouldn't have put you in the cage and given you a port-key instead. Yes, the goblins started to recall my missing items. I heard Dumbledore wasn't very happy about it."

"Dumbledore would have found the port-key. He put up some wards and removed a few of the pure-bloods port-keys until their parents tossed a fit and he had to return them. I am here to check on Severus. I wasn't sure why he left but wanted to make sure he wasn't hurt." Poppy looked at Severus, giving him the once over.

"I am fine Poppy. However, I am confused." Severus didn't expect Poppy to show up here.

"Who do you think has been healing Harry all those times? I know something was up the first time he was in the Infirmary." Poppy walked over and gave Tom a kiss on the cheek. "Tom, can I get some tea?"

"It's already on the table." Tom answered. "Good to see you again. I will update the wards and make sure to include your raccoon in the approved list."

"That would be great. Minerva wanted to come but she figured it wouldn't be good with both of us out of the Castle. She is going to tell Albus I got an emergency call." Poppy answered.

"Minerva? You didn't tell me about Minerva or Poppy." Severus stammered.

Harry shrugged. "I wanted them to surprise you."

Tom started laughing as Lucius was pouring Poppy a cup of tea. "We really didn't discuss much last night Severus in regards to unmarked followers."

Severus wasn't sure if he should be hurt or not. Poppy and Minerva were two people he liked on staff and they were with Harry. He knew Harry wanted him to join them but Dumbledore ruined that plan. He looked at Harry, who seemed to be studying him.

"Severus, we would have told you. Just a lot has happened since I kidnapped you." Harry responded.

"You kidnapped him? Harry, I am sure that wasn't necessary." Poppy told him.

"It was, and it won't be discussed." Harry's voice was filled with steel.

Severus expected Poppy to stand up to Harry. She wasn't afraid to stand up to Dumbledore or him, but instead Poppy nodded her understanding. Severus was glad, he had recognized that tone in the short time he had been here, it was the tone that clearly reminded him that Harry was the Dark Lord and for a good reason. "I wasn't hurt, Poppy."

"Any news?" Lucius asked.

"Not too much. He visited Horace, who has agreed to start next week. He also has Minerva looking into something concerning Neville. He made her take him to get a new wand. Minerva said when she came back Dumbledore greeted her and Neville. He asked about the new wand, which wasn't anything great. It's maple, with mandrake root for the core, 10 inches. Good for plants according to Ollivander. After Neville was back in his dorm, Dumbledore summoned Minerva, he wants to her to check into the attack of Frank and Alice. He asked me if Neville has any scars."

"He is really going to try it." Harry muttered. At Poppy's confusion, they explained what Dumbledore was trying to do.

"How would he work that? If the Lestranges, with Barty, attacked Frank and Alice, how can he say that Tom did it too?" Poppy asked.

"We aren't sure. There isn't a connection between the two. The attacked happened after Tom was declared dead." Lucius stated. "We can use it. The transcript, the fact that in Wizengamot Dumbledore declared Harry as the Boy-Who-Lived, pushed for truth serum with for the attack on the Longbottoms. It would discredit him even further."

"He might not let it out. He might tell Neville it was a secret, and to keep it quiet." Severus added.

"If he does that it will be around Hogwarts in a day. The students could leak it." Poppy responded.

"Or we beat him to it." Harry said. "We leak out the information. Say it's a rumor, tell them about the new wand, the research Minerva is doing, she will have to get the information from somewhere."

"Umbridge's death, tomorrow. Next week, leak out the information about the wand before the Alliance is sealed." Tom stated.

"Yes, after the Alliance is sealed, we remove Sirius Black, release the marriage contract. His name will take a few more hits. After that I saw we wait a few weeks, release my journals, get the Board after him." Harry began to write out their basic time frame.

"Minerva and I will work on making sure he doesn't completely lose it. If you get him removed as Headmaster, he will still stay at Hogwarts. Part of the Hogwarts Charter is after fifty years, the old Headmasters are allowed quarters after they are fired or retired." Poppy said.

"Good, we can keep an eye on him there. He will believe Hogwarts will be safe with him there. He always seemed to believe I am afraid of him and that is why I never attacked Hogwarts. He never thought for an instant that I wasn't going attack magical children." Tom couldn't believe the old man's twisted logic at times.

"I will give Minerva the basic information. She doesn't want to much given to her because of how close she has to work with him. She almost went after him when she learned he was trying to get into Severus' quarters, and gave Bill Weasley a good dressing down for removing the wards without the Will being read." Poppy stated. "Bill didn't know any of that. He felt bad. I believe him and Charlie with the Twins are on the verge of leaving the Order. The twins really only joined because of their parents."

"You think they will meet with me?" Harry asked.

"Yes, I think they will join when they find out the truth." Poppy remarked. "I don't trust Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. They seem to be hanging out with Neville now. Ginny was sitting in his lap last night at dinner. Neville looked sick at it. I learned later he kept telling her he wasn't interested and that he had a girlfriend. Luna Lovegood. Luna said something weird to me the other day. She said, "tell him he is doing the right thing."

Harry laughed. "Luna, I believe, is a bit of a seer. She has sent me messages over the years. She is what I call a hidden asset. She will help keep Neville from being involved."

"That could be why he is using Ginny." Severus added. "She is good at getting her way. She is a lot like Molly."

"That is true." Poppy responded.

"Keep an eye out. If you need to get them away do it." Harry ordered. "I don't want him to hurt anyone or use them."

"I will let Minerva know." Poppy said.

They All Fall Down

Notes:

Notes-Umbridge was there for Harry's sixth year not fifth

Lucius arrived, with Yaxley. "He signed." They had worked for a week on finalizing the deal. Dumbledore didn't know that Lucius had been the one to write up the contract for the alliance, as Yaxley had met him at Hogwarts, to appear to be willing to follow Dumbledore's lead.

"His own seats are under the Black seats, he aligned the Potter to the Black seats, not an official alliance, but he added a clause saying that the Potter seats would align with the Black Lordship." Yaxley added.

"That is interesting. I wonder why? They are both Ancient and Noble houses, so what would he gain out of it?"

"Control." Lucius stated. "He believes he will control the Black Lord."

"Who does he think is Lord Black?"

"Sirius Black."

"What?" Tom, Severus, and Harry all asked. "How?"

"I wasn't sure, but we went to Gringotts before coming here. Turns out Black hasn't been to Gringotts, he has been paying for everything with his own account, but using his key in the stores." Lucius answered.

"So he is going to force Black to Gringotts. I wonder when that will happen?" Harry asked.

"Mostly likely tonight. He didn't appear to be in a rush to leave Hogwarts. I don't know if Black is on one of the old man's crazy missions or not but I wouldn't be surprised if he brought the Mutt to Gringotts tonight." Severs knew Dumbledore would do it as soon as he could.

"Get everyone here. It's time to remove Black from the family." Harry ordered. "I believe it will make a nice alliance gift."

"Draco is going to sneak away after dinner. There is floo access in the Slytherin dorms." Lucius explained.

"Oh, I wonder if we can time it to happen when they are in Gringotts?" Tom looked positively gleeful at that idea.

Harry looked at Lucius. "Can we?"

"I am not sure." Lucius stated. "We might be able to do it if we had someone in Gringotts to watch for them, with us all ready to finish the ritual when we get the message."

"Ironclaw would enjoy it. He might allow us access to their floo." Tom stated. "They hate Dumbledore and really hate how Black has allowed the Black vaults to fall behind."

"See what we can arrange. I will message Minerva and Poppy and see if they can let us know when he leaves Hogwarts." Harry grinned.

*****************Bit of a flashback: Severus' POV****************

I got up and set about getting things ready for the ritual. I smiled as I thought about all the changes just two weeks had made in my life. Last week the Daily Prophet had been filled with Umbridge's death, they even rehashed my death and were trying to force an inquiry into Hogwarts. So far Dumbledore had been able to stall the Ministry and Board on moving forward on an inquiry.

Dumbledore was fending off the fact that Umbridge and I were on Hogwarts property when we disappeared. Technically Umbridge wasn't but both bodies were found on the grounds and that was enough of a link for the Daily Prophet to stir up problems.

We all agreed to wait on my Will reading, until after Dumbledore signed the alliance agreement. I really hoped we could get a pensive memory of Dumbledore learning the truth. I was going to look forward to watching the man's face when he learned it was Harry, Tom and I, with the help of the dark side that destroyed his perfect world.

"Severus, Minerva said he told her he was leaving in thirty minutes." Harry stated.

"Everything is all set." Severus answered. He placed the last candle in the candle holder. The chamber had the sage, thyme, and rosemary bundles in place for each member of the Black family to use. There was the purified water, in the sterling silver water bowls on the pedestals at each pinnacle point for each member to stand on.

Harry would stand facing North, as he was the head of the family now, Bellatrix would be to his right as she was the next to oldest, Narcissa would be opposite Harry and Draco next to Harry on his left. He placed the white robes for Tom, Lucius, Yaxley and him to wear on the low bench by the door. He waved his hand and all the candle were light.

end POV

Harry and everyone took their places. Tom, Lucius, Yaxley, and Severus stood in the four corners of the rooms, as they were the witnesses. It wouldn't be a long ritual but magic had requirements. "I, Harrison James Potter-Black, Lord Black, call forth my family members to the disownment of Sirius Orion Black for failing to hold true to the family motto, for failing in his duties as a godfather of a child he agreed to protect, for failing in his duties of being a father to the son he blood adopted into the Black family, and for allowing someone else to control the actions he has been following. All agree?"

"Aye." The Black family members agreed.

"Any objections?" Harry asked.

When no one spoke, Harry took the piece of parchment from Severus, a quill from Tom, ink from Lucius, he set them on the little pedestal in front of him. Yaxley stepped forward with the Black seal, Harry placed it in the center of the top of the pedestal.

Harry wrote Sirius Orion Black on the parchment. He folded the parchment, placed it in the sterling silver bowl. He poured the purified water over the parchment. Bella followed next, Narcissa when she was finished, Draco went last.

Harry lit a match. "Sirius Orion Black, I disavow your action against our family." He threw the match into the bowl. He lit another match. "Sirius Orion Black, I disavow your actions as a godfather." He threw the match into the bowl. "Sirius Orion Black, I disavow your actions as a father." He lit the last match. "Sirius Orion Black, I disown you. I hack you away from my family tree. I command you to leave."

They watched three of the matches disappear, reflecting the ritual was completed. Bella, Narcissa, and Draco followed Harry's example. Severus stepped forward again, providing Harry with another piece of parchment. The three witnesses provided parchment to the remaining Black family. Harry took up his quill and wrote Sirius Orion Black on it, he folded it again. He waited for the rest of the Black family to follow his lead. "Begin." Severus said as he received the nods from the other witnesses that they had written the name down. Each witness was in place to watch each member of the Black family write down a list of facts about Sirius Orion Black, and a brief memory or two.

All the witnesses returned to their positions of standing behind their member of the Black family. Harry picked up the bundle of herbs, he lit it. "I, Harry James Potter-Black banish Sirius Orion Black from my life. I banish you from my mind. No more will I think of you, no more will you think of me." He waved the bundle over the parchment as everyone repeated what their own pledge. When they were all done, they lit the parchment, all saying: "Burned from my life and memory, I will slowly forget about you, so you do not trouble me. You will forget me as well. So mote it be."

"So mote it be." The witnesses responded. They watched magic flow out of the chamber and knew Sirius was feeling the Black family magic being removed from him. He was feeling the severance of the bonds of godfather and parent.

Lucius, Tom, Yaxley, and Severus walked around clearing the air with bundles of sage, as they remained standing. Next, each witness cleaned the pedestals, and when the water and ashes were finally banished, the Black family members stepped away from the pedestals and grinned. "I can't wait to see his face." Harry remarked.

Tom was down in the lab with Severus, chopping up potion ingredients, while Lucius and Harry were in his office. "Lucius, make sure Rita finds out about this and in two days I want Severus' Will official read and released. After that, for Sunday morning, the release of the alliance should make a good start of the week for the man." Harry grinned. "He is really going to try and work on Draco this year."

"Yes, but I believe Draco can handle the man."

"Can this work on getting an inquiry into Hogwarts? I have already arranged with Ironclaw to send my Uncle a bank statement."

"It might lead to more if your Uncle really demanded to find out more." Lucius answered. "Dumbledore won't want your Uncle to speak and if your Uncle uses your journals, the Ministry is going to want to find out more information."

"Do you think if my journals from my time with them will help afterward?" Harry asked. "I mean to ruin Dumbledore and to make sure the Dursleys don't get anything?"

"It depends. If Dumbledore plays it the way he usually does, we might need them. However, with all the damage he has been taking, especially with two deaths, it might not take much for the Ministry to step in. Fudge has been afraid of Dumbledore making his own army."

"Really?" Harry leaned forward. "Explain." He wondered if that was what Granger wanted to speak to him about. She kept hinting at forming a group to learn spells.

"Fudge still doesn't believe that Tom is back. He believes Dumbledore is spreading fear and trying to get him out of office. Fudge, with Percy and Umbridge's encouragement, believes that Dumbledore wants to be the Minister or get someone under his thumb in. He wanted Umbridge there as a spy and to control what the students learned."

"When Umbridge started teaching she put up a lot of decrees, she had his permission to make those decrees, have those decrees been revoked?"

"Yes, but Fudge is trying to get another Ministry spy in Hogwarts. They are battling it out, especially since he has to fill two positions. Fudge has been trying to force Dumbledore to take his people, while Dumbledore has been using the students need time to adjust to the loss of two Professors to stall him. The Board is going to meet next week to discuss what to do." Lucius looked down at his notes. "No one filed any complaints about the blood quill."

"She did it on Muggle-borns and those with no one to report it." Harry answered. "Can the Board hire someone to settle this?"

Lucius grinned. "We can, and I have a list of candidates for Severus to review. I don't want to give Dumbledore a reason to object to anyone."

"He might not if he wants to avoid the Ministry interference in Hogwarts. He will be very defensive of his position since he won't have any power in Wizengamot." Harry inhaled. "We are going to have a very hard time getting him out of Hogwarts."

"Yes." Lucius glanced at his watch. "Is there anything else Harry? I have to be up early for a meeting with Amelia and Cornelius and I am expecting we will be hearing from Dumbledore."

"Yes, thank you, Lucius." Harry stood up. "Let me know if you need anything."

"Of course."

Draco floo to Malfoy Manor, he almost ran to his father's study. He didn't even knock as he entered the room. "Father, Dumbledore called me up to his office. He tried to make me drink a truth serum potion in my tea."

"He did what?" Lucius reined in his anger. He was going to kill Dumbledore.

"Yes, he was well pissed about me being Lord Black when I told him I wasn't he wanted to find out the truth."

Lucius' mind flashed to the past week's articles in the Daily Prophet. The first one exposed how Dumbledore left Harry with abusive muggles, the money that was given to the muggles, and showed copies from Gringotts of Harry's health report. Two days later, they ran for the next few days the events of Harry's school years, with students from all the different houses commenting on the yearly events. Sunday's paper released the Black Alliance, with Lord Black assigning the votes to the darker factions, causing the Potter and Dumbledore votes to fall into that faction, making the Wizengamot about 92% dark factions with Lucius now being the Chief Warlock.

Lucius wondered if Harry had expected that to happen. He didn't think Harry did, not even he had been aware of how many houses Dumbledore had linked to Potter. He knew the first meeting was going to be a very interesting one.

Severus' Will reading was on the inside of the paper, and how everything went to Harry Potter and Draco. Draco had already aligned the Prince seats to the dark, with Narcissa sitting as the proxy. He knew Dumbledore was furious about that also because Narcissa would there to help influence the vote. Pureblood wives were a close group of friends. They decided how the wizarding society was viewed. That meant that the husband would be influenced the wives because Narcissa would use her teas to discuss events, laws, and anything else the dark faction needed to be done. The light faction didn't have that kind of political pull.

"Did he ask you anything else?"

"No, he kept trying to get me to change my proxy. So he knows I assigned it to Mother."

"That was fast." Lucius wondered who Dumbledore had working in that department. He had three people in there and would have to find out who it was. They didn't need any Dumbledore lovers in the Ministry.

"He has also sealed Uncle Severus old quarters. He tried to say it was because he found dangerous potions, he hinted at some being illegal." Draco's face reflected exactly what he thought of that idea. Everyone knew Severus wasn't stupid enough to have anything illegal in Hogwarts.

"I will speak to the Dark Lord about this. Go back to Hogwarts, inform those who are aligned with us to be careful. Dumbledore is going to get desperate to figure out what is going on. Keep an eye on his little pawns."

"Speaking of pawns, The Mud-blood and Weasel are still doing that defense group. They are calling it Dumbledore's Army."

"I want anyone who knows anything about it to send me their memories, as soon as possible." Cornelius was going to love seeing those memories. He had already spoken about to the man about getting some people in there instead of the Ministry. He explained to Cornelius that Dumbledore would use them as an excuse to rally more to him, after all, if he was building an army he couldn't be a supporter of the Ministry. Cornelius bought it.

"I already have. I was going to send them late tonight, but I knew this was important." Draco pulled out a pouch. "They are in there."

"Excellent work Draco." Lucius saw Draco stand a bit straighter, pride filling the boy. "Go and be careful."

Everyone was kicked out of the memories. They were having an informal Elite meeting since Lucius wanted to show them the memories and tell them about Draco's visit. "Show them to Fudge, Lucius. Since he will believe Dumbledore is working on creating his own army, see if you can use his influence, together with the Board, to get Binns and the others removed, and get the list of classes passed." Harry retook his seat.

"I will." Lucius had written some information down on parchment. A list of what he needed to get done.

"Severus do you have any idea why he sealed your quarters?" Tom was wondering why Dumbledore would do it.

"I can't think of anything. I had a slightly smaller living space, since I wanted a Potion Lab, and didn't want a second bedroom. Most of them have two bedrooms with a personal office." Severus had been thinking about it. "Why the illegal potions too?"

"Could he be trying to set Severus to take the fall for something we don't know about?" Yaxley looked at Severus. "Your quarters, they weren't Slughorn's old ones?"

"No, they were the ones that were down by the Slytherin entrance to the common room."

"Oh, I know why." Harry grinned. "I bet he is going to set up a way to spy on the Slytherins. I bet if we set up a way to watch Hogwarts, we would see a pattern of Order members arriving to take their turn watching. He did it with me on Privat Drive."

"He would. No spy, so no information." Severus wondered what else the man was thinking of using his quarters for. "Granger."

"What?" Everyone was slightly confused.

"The girl is good at following directions. She can brew if you give her a direct recipe. So if he set her up in my old lab, no one would know what she was brewing."

"I removed all the equipment. I made it look like the lab hadn't been used in ages." Harry wanted Severus to have his equipment after all, some of the stuff he saw in the man's lab was irreplaceable.

"Everything she could be able to brew would be accomplished by any basic potion lab."

"Interesting. Severus, the twins, their pranks, could you adapt them for us to use?" Harry looked at Tom. They had already discussed the twins and their pranks. Harry had been hoping to get the twins on their side.

"You mean like their swamp hole?" Severus thought of a few more things the pranking twins had created. He knew they were creative and brilliant at potions. He also knew they failed their OWLs on purpose. They did it to escape Molly Weasley, not that he blamed them for that. He would have run away as soon as possible if she was his mother.

"Yes." Tom answered, understanding what Harry wanted to be done.

"I could. If someone went to their store and got the items they sell, I could recreate the potions and revamp them. Even pick up their disguise items, their fake wands, and food."

"We will need to set it up as we don't want one or two people going in and taking a small sample of everything." Lucius began to write the names down of those he felt they could trust.

"I have a glamour that will allow anyone to appear as a younger version of anyone they are poly-juice into. Maybe have everyone go in a group, and act like children." Tom caught Harry's eye and knew the three of them would be going to the twins shop.

"Well, Gred, looks like our Harrykins is visiting us." Fred put his arm around Harry.

"I agree, Forge, I thought he forgot about us." George added his arm around Harry.

"We can't have that, our brother thinking we would forget about him."

"I agree, it took him long enough to bring his darkness and Sevvie with him."

"Now, why don't the three of you come to our backroom and see what we have for you." The twins said together. They were enjoying the looks of surprise on Tom and Severus' face. Harry, however, let out a laugh.

"I have no idea how you knew, but it's good to see you." Harry knew he shouldn't have doubted the twins. They really should have been sorted into Slytherin, like him.

"Sevvie, you don't want the average stuff, we have the really good stuff in the back."

George was suddenly pushed against the wall. "Don't you ever call me that ridiculous name again." Severus warned, with his wand against George's throat.

"Don't think of calling me his darkness either." Tom added.

"Let him go, Severus. George, you know better." Harry and Fred hadn't moved, but Fred was grinning at the trio. "Now, I believe we have some business to discuss and some new potion ideas."

"I do like how our Harrykins thinks." Fred guided them to the backroom that they kept hidden from everyone.

Dumbledore was throwing things in his office. How did he lose everything? Harry disappearing had been a blow to him, but he knew he would find the boy and when he did, he was going to make sure the boy never disobeyed him again.

Severus, oh, his death was a huge loss. He had no spies to inform him what Voldemort was doing. Each time he sent in a spy, they were quickly discovered. Now, this whole Black Alliance. He could kick himself for that. He should have made sure Sirius was Lord Black, but he had assumed that since Sirius was hiding out in the Black family house, that meant he was the Lord. He threw one of his gadgets across the room, he was now in the dark faction and there wasn't anything he could do about it. He lost his Chief Warlock title, his ICW title would be revoked by the end of the week. He cursed at Fate, that meddlesome old hag had to be interfering again.

He also knew he shouldn't have tried to give the Malfoy brat truth serum. He had to keep the boy from informing his father. He also had to make sure that Granger and Weasley didn't give away the DA. He needed to get control over Weasley. He had been acting self-important since Harry disappeared. Granger wasn't any better. The power of running the DA was going to her head. He really couldn't afford any more mistakes.

He faced his chessboard, so many of his pawns were gone, and he needed to find more. Harry was the missing piece he needed to find. He wasn't about to give up his fame or power. He would make sure Harry killed Voldemort and then he would kill the boy, allowing him to gain control over the Potter and Black seats again. He would make sure every Black was dead, just to make sure he got the seats.

: Fixing Granger

Harry was staring down at the newspaper. He had read the article by Rita Skeeter when he thought of a new idea. He knew his breakfast was getting cold, but warming charms would work. He saw Tom and Severus were each reading their own copies of the paper "Tom is Rita a supporter?"

"Rita Skeeter?" Severus wondered what Harry was thinking. He had noticed that Harry had been staring at the paper and not eating for about fifteen minutes. Normally, Harry would eat before he read the paper, usually finishing his tea as he read.

"Yes, I usually don't ask her to come to the meetings. I just give the information to Lucius and let him deal with her. She annoys me." Tom really didn't like the woman. Her attitude drove him nuts. He didn't think the woman even knew how to tell the truth.

"Setup a meeting. I know how we can get rid of Granger." Harry picked up his teacup. He was going to enjoy watching Granger go down.

"I believe Bella might be of some assistance in retaining Rita, they were classmates." Tom knew Lucius and Bella would bring Rita to them with an ear for listening to them.

"Do it." Harry glanced down at the paper.

"Payback time?" Severus smirked.

"Yes."

Rita was shoved into a chair by Bella, while Lucius kept his wand trained on her. Rita was about to yell at Bella when Tom entered the room, with Harry and Severus, under charms. "Miss Skeeter, I am glad you could attend this meeting."

"My Lord, I wasn't aware you desired my presence. I would have come as soon as I heard." Rita thrust her chest forward a bit, as she straightened her blouse.

Bella smacked on the top of Rita's head. "He's married."

"Miss Skeeter, Lord Emeraude informed me of an interesting story he heard. One I am hoping is true."

"My Lord?" Fear laced her voice. She knew she wasn't a very popular person but she really didn't want to be tortured.

"Yes, Miss Skeeter, it stems from Mr. Potter's fourth and fifth year. Not what you wrote, so relax. More about what happened to you." Harry spoke firmly, yet softly. They watched the confusion pass over Rita's face.

"I am not sure what you mean, my Lord."

"I heard an interesting tale about a little bug being held hostage in a jar for a year. The tale of a muggle-born witch who caught you, kept you in a glass jar imbued with an Unbreakable Charm to prevent you from returning to your human form. Also, from the same source, how you were caught in the Hogwarts' Hospital Wing window, spying." Harry had sat down in the chair opposite Rita while he was speaking.

Rita wasn't exactly how to answer that. She didn't want to admit she was a beetle Animagus. She had used that form to spy on many people and meetings. "I'm-"

"Relax, I know all about your form. I have a very interesting prosal for you."

"I'm listening, my Lord."

"How would you like to get even with Hermione Granger?"

Rita's face lit up. "I would love it."

Lucius and Rita were heading towards Madam Bones' office, after Lucius and Rita had visited the Animagus Registration department, and had a little problem fixed. Lucius had already arranged the meeting.

"Amelia, thank you for meeting us."

"My pleasure, though I was a bit surprised by the request. What can I assist you with?" Amelia summoned some tea for her guests. She began to start serving tea.

"I wish to file charges against Hermione Granger for kidnapping."

Amelia almost dropped the kettle. "I see. Let me pull out the forms and we can get started." Amelia finished serving the tea, pulled out some parchment, black ink, and a new Falcon feather quill. "Full name?"

"Rita Arabella Skeeter."

"Date of birth?"

"14 November 1950."

Amelia wrote for a few minutes. "You said Hermione Granger kidnapped you?"

"Yes, and held me as a prisoner for almost a year. I lost a year's worth of wages also."

"I need the full story and your memories." Amelia knew this wasn't going to be good. Granger had been looking for a way to get into the Ministry, but she didn't think the girl wanted it this way.

"It was 17 January 1995. I was in my beetle Animagus form on a window in the Infirmary at Hogwarts. When suddenly the girl trapped me in a jar, charmed with an Unbreakable Charm, and kept me in it for a year."

"Do you know the reason?"

"Yes, it was revenge for the article I wrote about her. The article was titled "The Devious Miss Granger" based on reports provided by students, who claimed was a very skilled but plain witch who was using love potions to satisfy her taste for celebrity wizards. Miss Granger was toying with the affections of both Harry Potter and Viktor Krum. According to Miss Granger, she had been receiving angry mail from people. Some of the hate mail even came with jinxes and curses, even Molly Weasley sent her one. That one really set the girl off."

"Your form is registered?"

"Yes, it is. It has been since I attained it."

"Did she say thing else that might be a reason why?"

"Yes, she wanted me to learn to keep my quill to myself for a full year. She decided she was judge and jury. She only released me when I agreed to interview Mr. Potter. Mr. Potter had no idea about the agreement or about the kidnapping, just for the record." Rita had been hoping to get Potter into trouble, but Lord Emeraude made it clear Potter was to be left alone, even if they couldn't find the boy. "She was the reason the article in the Quibbler appeared. I was forced to do it."

"I see. Now because of this, you lost a year's worth of wages. I am sure the Daily Prophet will be able to provide me with the figure."

"I had my editor already write the letter. He also included my past ten-year history of my wages, certified by Gringotts."

"Amelia, I am concerned that the Headmaster might try to claim it's a slight misunderstanding and work to allow Miss Granger off with a light punishment." Lucius really wanted the girl to pay dearly. "I do have some information that will show she isn't as innocent as everyone believes. However, it also includes many others in the evidence, which sadly, the Headmaster will give numerous reasons for it, since Mr. Potter hasn't been found."

"I can review the evidence and start a case file on it while keeping it separated from these charges." Amelia pulled out some phials. "Miss Skeeter, if you could provide me with your memories, while I do a quick review of the additional evidence."

Lucius pulled out the copies of the accounting from Gringotts on Harry's vaults. "As you can see the funds are slowly being returned, but I believe this does show a lack of character for Miss Granger and the others listed."

Amelia scanned the scrolls, paying attention to the names and number of years. She felt sick seeing Dumbledore and some of the Weasleys on the list. "Is there anyone I can speak to at Gringotts?"

"Ironclaw. He is aware you might wish to speak to him."

"Thank you, Lucius." Amelia pulled out her pensive. "I need two witnesses to view the memories with me, is that alright with you?"

"Certainly."

"I will return with Auror Greenwood and Dawlish."

An hour later:

Amelia and the two Aurors were booted out of the pensive. She closed her eyes, sighed. "Arrest Miss Granger. I believe she is at Hogwarts."

Rita was giddy. Revenge was sweet. Onward to part two of her revenge, it was time to write a tell-all biography on the life and lies of Albus Dumbledore. She already had an interview set up with Bathilda Bagshot and Lord Argent provided her with Veritaserum. She had already begun to research Dumbledore as he was also in her sights. She had wanted to hurt Dumbledore for a long time. She had five weeks to write the book, and she was eager to get started.

Lucius grabbed Bella and Narcissa on his way to Tom's office. He already sent Dobby to tell Severus and Harry to come to Tom's office. "You will want to see this."

Everyone was gathered around the pensive. Lucius smirked. "You are going to enjoy this."

**********memory begins*******

They were in courtroom 10, there wasn't an empty seat. Dumbledore was standing. "I do not believe we need to use Veritaserum."

"After using the memories and Miss Skeeter's statement, I am in agreement." Lucius replied. The memories had shown Rita being trapped, kept in the jar being feed by a house elf. The memories showed her blackmailing Rita, showed her bribing Rita that in order to get out of the jar, she had to do the Quibbler interview.

"I demand it." Hermione Granger yelled. "It's my right."

"That is true." Madam Bones ended the debate. "It is your right." One of the Unspeakables left to go and retrieve a phial of Veritasrum. While another one went to summon one of the Ministry Potion Masters.

"She is going to regret that request." Bella laughed. She had wanted to get rid of the girl the old-fashioned way but this was just as good.

They watched as Granger opened her mouth. "She didn't even ask for it to be checked." Severus couldn't believe the stupid girl. It could have been poison.

"I will be reading the questions. Anyone asking questions will be removed, and Miss Granger's answered voided from her testimony." Amelia nodded to the Auror standing guard. "The test questions, please, Mr. McKinney."

"What is your name?"

"Hermione Jean Granger." Granger's voice was dull and void of emotions.

"Are you a Death Eater?"

"No."

"It is working, Madam Bones. Her eyes are glassy."

"Miss Granger, did you keep Miss Skeeter in a jar for a year?"

"Yes. She deserved it for what she did."

"Did you blackmail her into interviewing Harry Potter?"

"Yes, but it was because she was lying about me. She lied about Harry. The truth needed to be told."

They could hear the courtroom come alive with the buzzing of whispers. "Settle down. So you kept her in a jar with an Unbreakable Charm?"

"Yes, so she couldn't turn into a beetle and lie about Harry and me anymore. She was spying on all of us, when is she going to get into trouble for being an illegal Animagus?"

"For the record, Miss Skeeter has been registered since 15 April 1972. Now, back to the questions, are you aware that she lost a year's wages?"

"Yes, but she was lying. She lied in all of her articles. She lied about me giving Harry and Viktor love potions. She deserved it."

"Miss Granger, who are you do decide what someone's punishment should be when they commit a crime?"

"I did what was right. The Headmaster trusted me to guide Harry down the right path, and I needed to make sure he obeyed the Headmaster and that his reputation remained intact. People needed to believe in Harry so that he can defeat Voldemort. Dumbledore needs to guide him."

"Yes, the Headmaster's theory. Miss Granger have you committed other crimes?"

"Yes. I use magic outside of school, all the time. I have been using magic since I got my wand. I set Professor Snape's robes on fire, during my first year. I have made an illegal potion, unsupervised, during my second year. I used a time turner illegally to prevent the death of Sirius Black and others by Dementors. Aiding and abetting a known fugitive criminal during the summer after my third year onward. I have stolen potion ingredients from Professor Snape. That was a few different times. I scared Marietta Edgecombe permanently during our fifth year. She broke her word, she signed an agreement and that was the result, it was because I organized an illegal fighting group during my fifth and sixth year. I set Delores Umbridge up to be assaulted by the centaurs. I kidnapped and unlawfully imprisonment of Rita Skeeter. I have knowingly been taking stolen funds from Harry Potter's vaults since August of 1991."

"Who gave you the stolen funds?" The gasps could be heard throughout the courtroom.

"The Headmaster. He is also paying Ron, Ginny, and Molly Weasley, Remus Lupin, and he has been given the Order members funds but they don't know it's from Harry's vaults."

"I thought that wasn't going to be used?" Harry was a bit surprised.

"It wasn't, but they stopped paying the funds back. Dumbledore tried to use a closed session of the Wizengamot to get control over the vaults. Ironclaw had no choice, it was either stain his name with Granger's trial or allow him to try and eventually find a way around the laws." Lucius explained.

"Your grades, you attained top marks in all of your classes, did you use other means besides practicing magic outside of school?"

"Yes, I had copies of all the tests and reading assignments ahead of time. I was given accesses to the Headmaster's books and scrolls. I had advanced knowledge of what would be on the OWLs and NEWTs, and my tester was one of the Headmaster's friends."

"Why didn't you list that as your crimes?"

"Because I didn't break the law. I had the Headmaster's permission. He needed me to be the brains for Harry Potter to rely on."

"Are you saying you did everything because Albus Dumbledore allowed it?"

"Yes, he is the one who suggested we go back in time. He is the one who wanted the yearly events to test Harry. He did it all for the greater good." Granger started fading. "All for the grea-" She passed out.

"Revive her." Madam Bones ordered.

They watched a stream of water land on Granger and saw a grinning Lucius. "I couldn't resist." Lucius smirked, as everyone laughed.

"I believe we are finished. We will adjourn to discuss our findings." Madam Bones and the rest of the Lords and Ladies rose and left the chambers. The memory went black. "I apologize; the privacy spell prevents me from showing you what happened in the anti-chamber." It was a quick discussion as the blackness didn't last long.

"Miss Granger, while we understand most of your crimes were committed with the guidance of Headmaster Dumbledore, you committed some very serious crimes without his knowledge. For kidnapping, we sentence you to twenty years, for unlawful imprisonment, we sentence you to 30 years, for theft, five years, we decided to combined the remaining crimes which the sentence is ten years. If we uncover additional crimes, you will be charged."

"That isn't fair. She deserved it." Granger screamed. "What is her sentence for being an illegal Anigamus and lying?"

"Silencio." One of the Unspeakables put his wand away. "Too bad it can't be permanent."

They watched Granger being escorted out.

****************End Memory*******

Harry was sorting through the mail. He looked up at Severus and Tom as they entered the dining room. He watched them as Tom poured two cups of tea, while Severus placed blueberry pancakes on each of their plates. Severus' had changed in the year since his death. While his hair was longer, it was off of his face, and certainly not greasy. He was actually looking healthier than he did when he was younger. His skin was tanned and toned. He wore the black silk robes with the silver thread trimming the hems that looked very formal but also woven into the fabric was protective spells.

Severus pulled his paper close to him to start to read it, as did Tom. Harry had to hide his smirk as he watched them.

*************************Flashback********************

Lucius and Harry looked up at the ceiling as they heard a thud. "Again?"

"Yes. Severus, I believe, finally lost his patience with Tom." Harry handed a letter to Lucius. "I need you to speak to Fenrir. He has some clans in Wales interested in joining us."

"Fenrir said he would be at the Manor tonight." Lucius read the letter. "The clans he mentioned are the ones that Lupin had tried to recruit. Now that Lupin is collared they are coming around."

They heard some hexing and spell firing happening outside of the doors. "Tom ordered Severus to make some potions." Harry knew Severus liked to brew potions, but he hated being ordered to brew. Dumbledore and Voldemort did that, and Severus loathed being told to brew. Severus would always brew the potions that were needed and any potion that might be needed during certain times of the year, like the cold remedy potion or even allergy ones.

"Severus never liked being told what to brew." Lucius knew how much Severus found just brewing his experiments meant to Severus. The man loved to create, loved to see the ingredients interact.

"He does." Harry frowned a bit at some report he was reviewing.

Lucius leaned back in his chair. He had spent many hours watching Harry Potter. He had never seen anyone wear as many masks as Harry did. Lucius has seen the "Savior" Harry Potter when he out Slytherin Dobby from him. He had seen it a few times after that. He had seen the "lost" Harry Potter that Dumbledore expected the boy Harry to be. He had watched the changes from Dark Lord Harry Potter to Lord Emerauld in the Death Eater meetings. He saw the true Harry Potter when he began to teach him about law, politics, theory of magic, customs, and rituals. He knew he considered Harry one of his best friends, and Harry considered him one of his best friends. There were only three people who saw the true Harry Potter, Tom, Severus, and him. He counted himself lucky.

"The Vampires signed the alliance agreement. Dumbledore sent Kingsley to meet with them. Needless to say, Kingsley arrived back in Scotland missing a few pints of blood." Harry handed the agreement to Lucius. "They didn't care for Dumbledore's terms. He wanted them listed as dark creatures, with a blood allowance."

"The man is an idiot."

They heard a crash, followed by a thud from outside the doors. "Are you going to interfere?" Lucius asked as they could hear someone running around.

"No, I figure they need to work out their own issues. Besides, Tom needs to learn that Severus isn't one of his minions, and Severus needs to learn to stand up to Tom. Tom can be a bit overbearing."

"That is an understatement." Lucius was still surprised at the difference between Voldemort and Tom. Granted the masses would see Voldemort, not the true version of Tom. They didn't want Dumbledore to even think that man was sane.

Severus opened one of the doors, leaning against the other as he held a black bunny in his hand. "Do we have a rabbit hutch?" He looked a little bruised, and Harry saw a few small cut on the man's hands that were bleeding. Tom clearly had bitten Severus in his rabbit form.

"I believe all small animal cages are in the potion lab area down in the dungeon, marked animal supplies." Harry watched the back legs of Tom's twitch.

"I believe it will be just us for dinner tonight. I need to gather some bunny ingredients." Severus grinned. "How does some salmon sound?"

"Good." Severus turned and left as soon as Harry answered. Harry wrote a quick note. "Dobby."

Dobby appeared. "Master Harry Potter?"

"Give this to Severus, please." Harry held out the note. He had written: Don't leave him to long.

"Yes, Master Harry Potter." Dobby disappeared.

"He is improving on his bunny catching skills." Harry opened the next report.

**********************End Flashback*************************

"Harry, did you read the personal ads in the back?" Severus didn't look from what he was reading.

"No, I never do. Why are you?" Harry knew the man read the paper from front to back, but he didn't know he read the personal ads.

"Dumbledore likes to use them to get sneaky in his hiring at Hogwarts. He has an ad here for new Assistant Professors."

"He isn't allowed to hire anyone, he can collect the applications." Tom flipped through his paper. Harry had gotten tired of the variety of complaints about the morning paper, so he arranged for three copies. Especially since he never got to read the whole paper. Tom, thanks to Harry introducing him to the new and improved ballpoint pens, wrote all over the paper, while Severus had a habit of cutting out ideas he found for research or interesting things he wanted to research.

"This might be enough to get him removed." Harry knew Lucius would use it to the fullest.

"Minerva sent me a letter, this explains her remarks." Severus circled the ad.

Assistants Needed

Assistant Professorship opened. Private lessons, classroom training time, and salary. Experience not required. Apply to box 38.

"It's to get Ron, Ginny, and Molly money. They are behind on paying me." The Weasley family had disowned the three of them after the news leaked about the theft. Arthur was horrified when he heard about what Granger had confessed and his family's involvement. The support of the rest of the family members, he disowned Molly and his youngest two. The three of them went running to the Order, where the rest of the members made their displeasure known. Dumbledore moved them into his old family home in Godric's Hollow.

"Lucius will enjoy getting rid of Dumbledore for this. He broke the guidelines again." Tom wished they could attend the next Board meeting. Lucius and the Board had made it very clear on the new hiring policies.

Lucius wanted to dance. The Board had found a valid reason to terminate Dumbledore and they did it. He was removed as Headmaster, but they couldn't force him out of the Castle. They also knew where the former Weasleys were going to be staying.

"You're happy." Severus looked up from his potion journal.

"I'm very happy. Minerva is now the Headmistress."

"So he got ousted?" Tom closed the book he was reading.

"Yes, and I didn't have to do anything." Lucius looked around and was a bit surprised to find tea waiting for him on the table next to where he just sat down.

"Harry is on his way. He was getting a book out of the library. We wanted to check on an old law, one that will make it legal for us to take Hogwarts." Tom showed Lucius the book he was reading was Hogwarts: A History. "Harry remembered something Granger mentioned about the founders."

Harry handed Tom the book once he was in the room. "Lucius, I take it you have good news?"

"I have great news."

"Do tell." Severus knew Minerva was going to be at the Board meeting. She had arrived a few days ago with Poppy. Severus and Harry had a very long lecture about not informing her about being alive, but she did understand why they were doing what they were doing.

"Dumbledore showed up at the meeting, and actually told the Board he hired the three of them and there was nothing that we could do about it. Minerva and Augusta were in a corner speaking about Dumbledore trying to drag Neville into this mess when he arrived. He proceeded to inform us that he hired the three and that Minerva was fine with his choices."

"What positions? I know they weren't hired but I have to know. He had to put them in places to influence students." Harry wondered if they could use the attempts to buy favor with the public.

"Ronald was to be the new Assistant Flying Instructor and Head Coach for Quidditch, Ginny was to be Minerva's new assistant, and Molly was going to be Poppy's." Lucius saw the three understand why Dumbledore selected those positions.

"Ron would get all the Quidditch fanatics and incoming first years, Ginny would sleep with the upper years, while working on the younger years, and Molly, her mothering act in the Infirmary would make a clean sweep of the students." Tom was impressed. "It would easy to give individual potions too."

"You should have seen his face when Minerva stood up with Augusta. He clearly wasn't expecting her to be present. Augusta wasn't very happy with him, and since we hadn't called the meeting to official start, she marched over to the table, picked up his termination notice, held it out. "You're fired! Leave my grandson out of this prophecy business, too." Dumbledore looked confused but recovered, and reminded us that he couldn't be forced from Hogwarts, and then explained how he should remain in charge. Thirty minutes later, he was escorted out by the Aurors who finally arrived, after Ted Tonks summoned them. Ted stopped them at the door before Dumbledore left. "Albus, Minerva needs the office by tomorrow, have your stuff removed by then." Dumbledore glared but left quietly, but got the three of them as his part-time personal assistants, but they can't stay at Hogwarts, and he has to pay them out of his own pocket, so I don't think it will last too much longer."

"So we can let them drain his accounts, and go after Hogwarts, or since everything is in place, just take it now. I don't care about the money, but I don't want him to recruit any students."

"Minerva had an idea on that. Let me show you on the map."

Three months later:

Voldemort walked toward Hogwarts. "I would have thought they wouldn't involve kids." No one said anything. He looked to his right and saw the emerald green robes of Lord Emeraude, his full face mask was emerald green, he glanced to his left, got a nod from Lord Argent, the man was dressed in black robes with silver highlights in them. His full mask was black with silver highlights around the eyes, nose, and lip area.

"Team 1 left, team 2 right." Lord Emeraude ordered. The three of them watched the two teams break off. They continued walking with three teams of Death Eaters behind them. They stopped when they reached the courtyard of Hogwarts.

No one spoke. Finally, they saw Dumbledore walking out of the castle, the man was dressed in a purple robe with yellow stripes. "Tom."

"Albus." Voldemort was very calm. He could see that bothered the man. Dumbledore wasn't expecting him to be calm being called by his name.

"Why are you here?"

"To get rid of you." He answered. "You have destroyed enough of our world."

Again no one spoke for a long time. Emeraude whispered, "wait for it." Everyone kept still.

Voldemort could see their lack of words and actions was making the Light side uncomfortable, some were getting confused. Voldemort finally saw the tell-tale black robes on the Towers of Hogwarts. Emeraude said "now." Voldemort held up his wand and the Death Eaters moved forward on three sides, allowing no escape for anyone.

"Inside." Dumbledore called. When they turned around to head into the castle, they were greeted by Death Eaters standing on the steps, in the doorway, and on the towers. Dumbledore turned back around to face Voldemort.

Voldemort smirked. "Going someplace, Albus?" He had waited for decades for this, and it was finally here, he was going to enjoy every minute of it.

Dumbledore raised his wand, only to have it go flying into the right hand of the man who was dressed in emerald colored robes. Now, a wandless Dumbledore had three Death Eaters' pointing their wands at him.

Voldemort started to speak. "Forgive me, allow me to introduce you to Lord Emeraude. This was his plan. He took Wizengamot from you, he took your lands, he took your money, he took your name, he took the Ministry and because of his plan, he now has taken Hogwarts from you." The emerald wearing man inclined his head

"The Light will never be defeated." Dumbledore's voice lacked the usual blustering tone.

"I don't know, it looks like it to me, what do you think Severus?"

The man on Voldemort's left responded. "I think his Chickens are done." They watched members of the Light cry out in shock and betrayal. "You should never have had that meeting."

"Lord Emeraude, I do believe the man is wondering what went wrong with his plans." Voldemort was enjoying this.

"Most likely." Emeraude stated. "I believe he will remember this meeting."

Dumbledore finally connected their words to what they meant by the word meeting. "Harry?"

"I really thought he would need more hints." Voldemort whispered loud enough just for Harry and Severus to hear.

"Yes. You really shouldn't have lied to me." Emeraude told him. "Almost cost Severus his life, letting me believe you sold me to him."

"Never should have lied to me, telling me that I had to bond with Harry to save his magic." Severus added. "Never should have told your two pets your plans, they couldn't protect their minds."

"Drop your wands." Voldemort said. "I don't want to fight kids. Is that you are able to manipulate now? Kids?"

All the Death Eaters let out a cheer after all of Dumbledore's followers were bound. "Harry?"

"Yes, Tom?"

"We are home now."

The three men exchange glanced, Hogwarts was their home again.


End file.
